Of Metal and Masks
by Kamen Rider Leonite
Summary: Reincarnation Self-Insert. When life hits you with a car and a supposedly omnipotent being offers you the chance to save yourself by starting over in another life, surely things can't turn out any worse right?
1. Chapter 1

Urgh… I feel so sore… why do I… I… I hear voices, but I can't make them out. Come on… focus I… is that blood? On the asphalt? My blood? And… that's a car and… I can't move. It's so hard to focus… everything is getting so bright…

* * *

Oough… huh? No road… but I don't know what this place is. It's just a white void. A bright white void. And… there's a light with a figure standing, silhouetted by the light. Ok… just who is this guy? "Hello?" I asked. "Do you know where this place is? I… don't seem to remember how I got here."

The figure doesn't answer, but slowly raises his hand towards me… he's looking for a handshake? But this seems… oddly familiar. Still… I slowly raise my own hand and take his. And the man steps forward, clad in fancy white robes with a calm expression on his face, and black swept back hair, and I didn't even both trying to stop my mouth from falling open as two and two came together.

"Welcome to the afterlife young man." Q said. "You're dead."

I tore my arm away as if his had been on fire. No. No way. No fucking way that's THE Q. Down to looking just like Jon DeLancie. "What do you mean dead?" I asked incredulously. "I'm in a white void recreating a scene right out of Star Trek complete with one of its bigger characters – just because I'm here probably means I'm just dreaming."

"As much as I'd love to entertain your little fantasy of a fantasy, the truth is right before you." Q gestured as he spoke… and the scene around us shifted. And right in front of me I saw my own body lying down on the asphalt, just around the corner from my house, a car stopped inches away and a gathering crowd of people staring or on their phones. And not all of them are using them to call things… why is it their first instinct on seeing this to snap photos? "That's you right now. Dead as of two minutes ago from a careless driver who didn't see where they were going. Nothing more than an accident."

It took me a moment to recover from that. It's not every day that you see your own dead body sprawled out on the road. "What do you want with me Q… and don't start with that bull about being a god." For all the bravery I hoped was in those words they came out little more than a whisper.

Q smiled at that. "Oh, it's quite simple my boy. I'm here to give you a second chance." He answered.

I turned and looked at the… well, simplest to say, man in the face. "Why? I'm not Picard. There's no big decision that lead me down this path – it was a car, not a cybernetic heart."

Q chuckled. "No, you're not. But if we're being honest, I can't just simply amuse myself with Picard or Janeway or those disgustingly pastel ponies all the time." Wait wha- "So I thought, why not do a bit of community service? I give a young promising man a second chance at life and in return… I get some entertainment."

"How would my life be amusing to you?" I questioned. "And what was that about the-"

"Simply put, I'm not just going to rewind time for you." Q interrupted. "You're right, your world IS boring. And while it has a bit more of that bipedal barbarian action than Picard would like… I'm sure you'll make it interesting."

Fine, it seems he's not going to answer questions about that pony bit. "And if I refuse?"

The man smirked… and snapped his fingers, and in an instant, I was left with only the void. "Then you really WILL be dead." Another snap and the man returned in a far more familiar Starfleet outfit, sipping… from a cup of tea with butterflies on it? "So what will it be?"

"I don't even get to ask where you're sending me to?" I queried.

"Young man, I'm already doing you a favour by bringing you back to life." Q noted. "So yes… or no?"

I grumble a bit at that… but there's really only one answer to that is there?

"And if you try to punch me in the face I'm leaving you here. I've learned from taunting Sisko."

Damn mind reading omnipotent being… argh, I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth here, it must be something he'd find entertaining after all! "Deal!"

Q smiled, snapped his fingers… and everything went dark.

* * *

Now you'd probably expect for me to show you the time that I was born. Little bits of little me… or perhaps just seeing me when I was old enough to enter high school. Here's the thing about being shoved into the body of a newborn baby though… you're still a newborn baby. I only got the briefest imprint of the hospital around me as I was being held and… blank. Nothing. I suppose whatever Q did stopped my young brain from being overwhelmed… but it also meant in this new life… I already lost three years… I think.

To put it simply… when I next came too, I was aware of a few points. The first was that I was three years old. That my name wasn't the same… of course it wasn't. I was vaguely aware of lessons I had learned, of what had happened earlier that day… or even the fact that I was in the park near home. And I knew I had a massive headache.

"Edward? Edward, are you ok sweetie?"

And there's that name. That voice, both familiar and yet not familiar at all. I slowly turned my head and looked up… to see a woman. A woman who's name my little head didn't remember yet… because it had another one. This black haired woman… was only one thing.

"My head hurts Mum." I said… even as the words seemed almost unreal coming from my mouth.

* * *

Of course, it was a bit much to expect everything to stay the same as it had in the old world and the old me. But if I knew Q was sending me here I… probably wouldn't have done anything. Admittedly, there are a lot worse places to be in aside from My Hero Academia… at least there are actual heroes here, but it's still plenty dangerous.

In saying that though, it could've been Evangellion. Or Warhammer 40k. Or Naruto. Yes, Naruto is being compared to those two, bite me, the ninja are literal child soldiers with super powers.

But it wasn't so dangerous that I didn't have time. And by age four I knew a lot about me, my new life and just where I stood in that world. My name is now Edward Ferros. I'm pretty sure that's the term for iron, but it's been over a year since I've been able to confirm that and while my Mum - still hard to think of someone else like that – knows by now that I'm not an average kid by this point, I'm still not showing so much that she's willing to let me on her computer to check. Can't even fool the babysitters because mum MADE this computer and naturally has it safeguarded in ways only she could.

How did I figure out it was My Hero Academia? Well I could be sarcastic and state it was the presence of heroes and villains on the news, but really it was clear from the moment I got home… I had an All Might onesie. Apparently, it wasn't even locally made but something mum got given. I won't complain though, the man seems to be as much the hero as I remember him being, if his appearances on TV are any indication.

Thankfully though being a little kind again means, aside from the occasional headache as my brain adjusts for an adult mind in other places, I can get away with a bit more… and exploit my cute little self to get details filled in. My mum is Kasumi Ferros. She's half Japanese, but we live in England… which was apparently something her grandparents had decided on. Because my Mum… is a hero. One of England's bigger heroes, although nowhere near the position of All Might. The technology heroine – Iron Butterfly… so called because her quirk gives her the power of technopathy, the ability to manipulate metals and technology which - combined with a number of gadgets she's created with her powers - means she's surprisingly versatile in what she can do… if the news reports and the stories she tells an excited me when she picks me up from day care are any indication. Robberies foiled, data heists stopped in their tracks, and even a pair of butterfly wings attached to jet boosters to let her quickly get around like a gadgeteer Iron Man. I don't know many of the limits she has but… well, it helps.

"Edward?"

In fact up until a couple of years ago she had been able to do so most of the time, always there for me in the evenings or nights, but my dad apparently looked after me. And then he had simply… passed away. It was sad apparently… I was even at the funeral if the photos mum tried to skip past while thinking I wouldn't notice were any indication. It had taken some time to ask about that but apparently it hadn't even been anything super strange. He had just gotten sick and unfortunately the doctors couldn't do anything to help him. It apparently hadn't been planned to be that big of an affair but apparently mum still has family back in Japan so they had come to show their respect too.

Since then she's tried to spend more time with me… but it means that when I'm not at day care, three days out of the week a babysitter her hero agency hired came to pick me up. The weekends are me time if Mum can help it but… still, it feels a bit… distant at times.

"Edward, are you listening to me?"

I shook my head and looked up. Some things never change I suppose… I've always tended to zone out a bit when watching TV. "Sorry Mum… what did you say?" I asked.

"Honestly Edward, you need to watch less TV. Your eyes will go square." Mum noted, exasperated… but as she shook her head, she smiled. "I wanted to let you know we're having chicken for dinner."

I couldn't help but smile at that. Couldn't help it. No matter the world or family, my mum's homecooked chicken is always the best. Even if it meant chicken for tomorrow too. Mum tries her best… but she's inherited a bit of the Japanese cultural approach to work, meaning that I've noticed when she does get home later on her work days, she's usually half asleep by the time she does. I'd worry that the hero life and looking after me is too much pressure on her… but thankfully my grandparents – who go back and forth between Japan and England – and the rest of the family in Japan have done their best to support her. Even with me just remembering my third and fourth birthdays I've never had to worry about toys or clothes. I think one of them is a hero over in Japan but… well, I've never been told.

Still didn't stop the kids at preschool asking me if I knew All Might though. Seriously, the series if anything UNDERSOLD how big he is internationally. By comparison you'd be lucky if anyone had heard of, say, Best Jeanist. Of course, the teachers usually had to point out that just because I was partly Japanese didn't mean I know All Might, but at least it distracted them from asking questions about my mum. Or asking questions about my quirk.

I knew for sure that I'm not destined to be quirkless like… Izuku, that's it, like Izuku. That's a little worrying extra bit that people in the stories don't always go over… your memory is a limited thing, and I know I must have lost SOME things when Q shoved me into my new body. There was a reason I'd lost three years of my life after all, there simply wasn't enough brain for me to actually think as me. It meant that sometimes I had to take moments to myself and focus on things I remembered. My old life and this world were first but even a year on I knew I wouldn't be able to retain it. I had… shit, at least ten years to go before it became useful. But yeah, my quirk. Or at the moment… lack thereof. Most of the kids in my preschool class had developed powers by now. One with permanently metal skin, one who had been normal and then was out of the group for a few days… before coming back as a bigger beetle kid. Lots of kids in my group were getting their quirks… but I was part of the group that weren't. It was only the fact that I had seen a doctor and had it confirmed that I knew I'd be getting one… hopefully. It's hazy, but I don't remember the show ever going into much detail on that part.

Still… it didn't stop the bullying. It was stuff I had long since learned to block out in my past life. Comments about being quirkless and pretending not to be… it didn't help that with being able to read, I was always seen as super smart… and that meant I was a bit isolated from the rest of the kids. I could only dumb myself down so much. I haven't even started school yet…

This is going to be a long few years, I just know it.

* * *

Of course… being a kid again means having to learn how to be a kid again. It's something most stories tend to skim over a bit I find when reincarnation is part of the process… but thankfully with Mum being out so much it's let me practice. At the same time I've also tried to keep a hold of what I love… but it's not exactly easy when things have been… pushed forward.

"Edward! You got a package from Grandpa!" Mum said happily. I looked up from the little scene I was playing out with my All Might plushie – yes, they make All Might plushies – and a toy I was… not entirely shocked to see had lasted the test of time. Somehow it seems Thomas the Tank Engine is timeless but… eh, it lacks something with Quirks around.

Don't judge me, it'd be weird if I WASN'T playing with my toys.

"I did? But it's not my Birthday!" I called out excitedly. Thankfully I think Mum finds my surprise at getting toys like that more a sign of me being easily excited, most kids wouldn't question it.

"Well, I was talking to Grandpa, and he remembered how you asked him if there were heroes before All Might… and he sent you something he's kept around." Mum noted, even as she opened the package slowly as I pulled myself up. "It'll be a surprise for both of us, he didn't even tell ME what he's sending."

Ok, not going to lie, that actually started to make me excited. The family in Japan is… surprisingly generous. I think it's because they don't get to actually spend time with me. So I waited beneath and then… she gasped.

"Oh dad… "

I blinked at that reaction and slowly moved myself… and it was all I could do to stop my own jaw dropping. Now you have to realize that this isn't the regular world. It's at least a hundred years into the future, if not more. So many of my favourite things had fallen into obscurity or simply disappeared completely – immortal tank engines aside. New media, quirks and heroes had simply driven some things out of the public view. So you can imagine my shock at seeing the figurine of a character done up in a black body suit, green chest armour and a silver helmet, vaguely resembling a grasshopper. You'd be surprised to if one of Japans original super hero icons from the pre-quirk days was right before your eyes.

Mum sighed… but slowly let a smile cross her face as she did. "Edward… what your grandpa has sent you is a very special toy from when he was little." She explained slowly, pulling me onto her lap. "This is the hero known as the Kamen Rider – Kamen means Mask. He was a strong hero that was around before even All Might was… and he was quirkless."

"He was? But how did he fight?" I asked… I know the answer, but I'm actually a bit curious as to how she says it.

"He… made himself stronger. Using gadgets like mommy does… but they were built in. He fought bad guys and monsters… he was a symbol of peace for Japan. Not many people know about him anymore, but your grandpa used to tell me about how he and others like him used to fight monsters with all sorts of ways without Quirks." She said.

"Muuum… I know I'm gonna have a Quirk." I insisted.

She just giggled at that. "Of course sweetie. But being Quirkless isn't a bad thing is what I'm saying."

I nodded. It doesn't surprise me. With a low direct power quirk like Mum's, she's a bit more open eyed to what can be done with and without certain quirks. It's a lot like… Momo, yeah, Momo's quirk. You have to understand what you're working with to manipulate it. The less you know, the worse you might end up. Apparently if she spends some time she can 'Understand' a machine but… well, mum gets a bit vague when that happens.

I don't ask of course. After all… what four year old thinks about these things?

* * *

By age five I was at least getting used to being a kid again, instead of having to simply act like it all the time. But… well, if the pressure shown on Izuku from being Quirkless was any indication-

"Hey Eddy! How about you show us your Quirk?"

"Don't be stupid Tom! He's Quirkless!"

"Ah, that's right. Eddy No-Quirk!"

"Eddy No-Quirk! Eddy No-Quirk!"

\- the teasing in English was a bit worse. It wasn't the words that were so harsh… but how often I heard them. 80% of the population had Quirks, and yet only one of the teachers at the school – the gym teacher – was Quirkless. The worst part was being a late bloomer while your mum is a decently famous hero. Bullies aren't something new to me though. It's the day in, day out nature of them. The school does try its best, but that just means it doesn't get physical. That they wait until the teacher isn't looking. And sometimes… well, it's their word against mine. Tom and his friends… they just claim they're friends. And while some of the staff might see the truth… the Pre-School class teacher sees things through more innocent eyes. Sort of like a more… innocent version of some teachers I vaguely remember.

"Edward! You ready to head home?"

I looked up. Of course, it helped that I could talk to the people Mum sent around to have pick me up from the school. Katie – dark skinned with shocking blue hair which was apparently a mutation from her family line – was one of the most sympathetic. She was Quirkless. But was always willing to listen about the kids acting like I was. Still, I smiled and nodded to her as she took my hand… and didn't let the smile drop until I got into the back seat of the car. I refused to give those bullies the satisfaction of seeing me sad.

"Trouble with the kids at school again?" Katie asked. Her accent was particularly strong, but about all I can tell you is that it made her sound like she was from up North.

I just nodded, not wanting to talk at the moment.

Katie sighed. "You think the Principal would be more on the ball about that. The only reason your mum hasn't come down to put a stop to it herself is because she realized it would embarrass you." She noted with a smile. Yeah, right. That might have been part of it but the greater worry is probably that it would just isolate me more.

"It's not fair." I remarked. "They know I'm going to have a Quirk. They know I'm smart enough. That I don't lie."

"And if they were all thinking like you Edward they wouldn't be teasing you." Katie responded. "Besides, it's not always gonna be like that. I had this real mean girl in my class when I was in school, her name was Sarah. Used to tease me all the time for being Quirkless. And do you want to know what happened to her?"

"The two of you became friends?" I asked. I mean, it's the obvious thing.

Katie giggled at that. "Oh no. She still teased me even up to graduation, and I haven't kept in contact with her since. But that doesn't mean I haven't heard what she's done. She ended up getting into politics, becoming this big advocate for Quirk related safety. She's gone and done something good with her life and… it makes me think of what she said back then. Of what could lead to it. And then I saw a news report where she talked about more strict guidelines with schools because a Quirkless kid was injured and… well, I could barely recognize her as the same girl who had once teased me. People change. And those boys will change too."

I blinked… and looked at the rear-view mirror at Katie, who was all smiles. It's sorta weird actually… usually adults don't know how to treat me. They try to treat me by my age, and even Mum does it instead of treating me as what I think she thinks is a genius. But Katie… in that moment she saw me as someone who was both a kid and yet… I think she saw me being able to understand more. Why else would she have said all that to me?

Suddenly Katie's smile was replaced with a look of shock. "Shi-"

And then suddenly something… HEAVY rocked the car. The sound of tire's screeching, of glass shattering, and Katie's vulgar call out rung in my ears as things went black.

* * *

Urgh… what? How long was I out? Last thing I remember was a swear and-

I gasped involuntarily as I look in front of me. Things are broken outside… a fire hydrant knocked away and through a window, people screaming and running, cars with holes in them… what's happening? The car's window's broken completely, the shards spread out over the front seats and Katie's-

I barely managed to resist the urge to vomit as I can see blood splatters even from here… and past what I'm sure is a bloody sight, I can see webs scattered all over the place, people stuck to them and stuck to buildings… there's the ones screaming, even as an oversized man with… what seems to be a massive spider body for his head, to the point he's traveling around on it's legs… I can't make out what he's saying, I just hear screaming and crying, so many people looking scared, and he's going up to one of them and opening his mandibles!

I don't know what pushed me at that moment. My body started moving before I even realized it as my hands reached out. I barely saw lines of silver crisscrossing my body as I did and my right foot slammed down hard. A burst of pain ran through my leg and the car, still on but damaged, jerked and then accelerated towards the monster spider, rushing at him… only for the spider to jump out of the way and the car to jolt as I slam down the left one, dull pains starting to echo

"Peh. I thought I'd snacked on the driver of that car already." The spider-villain stated, his voice sounding harsh and deep, almost like the rumble of thunder. "So, who's the little… ooh?" One of those monstrous legs pierces through the door of the car and roughly pulls it off. "It's just an itsy little spawnling… and tha way you look like that kid… it's reminding me of that Butterfly." And he stares into the car and eyes and eyes and eyes so many red eyes staring at me with hate and hate and-

Suddenly I'm pulled out of my seat. I can hear someone cry out and… oh god was that me? Suddenly I'm right in front of his face, those eyes staring right at me.

"And there's no-one I hate MORE than that Butterfly!" He called out, lunging me towards him. I reach out with my arms to try and stop him only to hear a sickening crunch as he pulls me closer and-

Suddenly the spider let out a winded gasp and I started tumbling through the air… only for me to find myself in a familiar embrace. I slowly steer my head up and… I see Mum. A domino mask on in the shape of a silver butterfly with blue lenses, her winged jetpack easy for me to see on her… but she looks so hazy. "Edward… hold on, Mommy's here, it's going to be ok." Mum stated… and placed me back down on the car seat slowly.

"Grgh… you metal bitch… so that kid's your son? Then he can die with-"

Before the spider could say anything else wires burst out of the ground, out of mum's gauntlets, streetlights and some of the wrecked cars, wrapping their way around each of his legs and his mandibles. Mum hadn't even turned around but she had a fierce look on her face that I wouldn't soon forget.

"Butterfly's Net: Electric Web."

As the sound of surging electricity sounded out, things just seemed to get fuzzier and fuzzier… I just… need to close my eyes. Everything hurts… it wouldn't be too bad to close my eyes would it? Would-

* * *

I slowly opened my eyes and felt… pain. It wasn't a sharp pain but… intense. I looked around slowly as I heard very little in the way of sound aside from… beeping? Why does that sound so familiar?

"Oh Edward… thank goodness you're awake."

Mum? She's… sideways? No, I'm lying down, I can feel a pillow against my head. She's been crying, her eyes are red and puffy.

"Don't move so fast… you were in a very nasty fight." She encouraged, slowly stroking my cheek… that's odd. Usually she'd go for a full hug, she's not that reserved about it. I go to reach up and hold her hand… and she winced. And for good reason as when I raised my arm… there wasn't that much left of it.

"What… happened?" I manage to croak out in disbelief.

"Unfortunately, there's no good way to say this." I turned my head… and there was a doctor, one with an extra set of arms… whose morose look on his face would be one that I'd find myself unable to forget. "Edward. What you did against the villain was very brave for someone your age… but unfortunately your body wasn't ready for that sort of work. And… despite our best efforts…"

He didn't even get to finish before I felt the hot tears crawling down my face as I slowly looked down at my arm… my stump of arms.

"We were unable to totally save your arms and legs."

And at that point, I stopped holding back the damn I hadn't even realized was building up. I'd only just started… and already, I was worse than useless. I was broken.

* * *

I hadn't stayed awake long past that. The comforting words of your mother sadly aren't always the best things to keep you going at times like this… but when I woke up again, it was to the beeping of the monitor… and an empty room. But…

"Are you serious?"

The yell of an angry mother tends to get a child's attention. Just outside the door it seemed.

"Miss Ferros, you need to understand, there's no way around this."

"Oh don't you give me that! Those charges would be laughed out of any sensible court! It was in self-defence!"

"Kasumi-"

"Don't. You've already said he was supposedly already safe. And we both know that's bullshit. Tarantulus would have gone back for him! He's trying to push for a technicality in the law!"

"And it's still the law!"

"It's outdated!"

I heard both voices make grunts suddenly. "And you are both disturbing the patients. Kasumi, I like it as much as you do… but like you said, it will be laughed out of any court. Please, for Edward's sake, take the summons."

I desperately push to hear more… but the world is already starting to go fuzzy again…

* * *

As I start to regain consciousness again, I feel a pressure around my… stumps. I keep my head still and slowly look over… mum's sitting there with a tape measure hovering out from one of her gauntlets… her costume's gauntlet's. She's not even looking at it, an antenna raised up from her the centre of her domino mask. And all around her face I see the not-unfamiliar sight of her quirk active… silver patterns glowing on her face, looking like circuitry in human skin. She's muttering fast to herself in Japanese too… and in either life, I'm still not that practiced that I can speak it fast.

I don't speak. But I don't find myself falling back into the void all that quickly either. I think right now what I need to do is trust mum on this one. I've only seen her get like this once or twice before, when I walk into a room while she's designing some new gadget… but from the way I could see the circuits even at her fingertips… this is something more.

… I don't blame her for keeping busy. I wish I could… but with my arms and legs like this I can't really do anything. Even with my Quirk – and thinking back, it HAD to be my Quirk that was how I managed to move the car back then – what I'll be able to do is very limited. Maybe if I was some super genius I could invent something I could use to get around but even then… there's no way I could be a hero. Damnit… I… I really wanted that. I was offered a chance to live a better life to save my old one yeah… but watching people save others, watching real life heroes risk themselves to stop criminals… part of me has always wanted to join in. Even before all this.

The tears soon came hot and heavy again. And soon I manage to slip off into a proper sleep, not unconsciousness.

* * *

"… unorthodox… untested."

"… my son, and… quirk. It'll work."

"You've only tested it out remotely. What if it doesn't work?"

"Then I'll try another way."

I blink and slowly wake up… only to see Mum and the Doctor arguing with each other and… what looks to be a metallic arm to my side… it's not exactly hard to put two and two together. Mum wants to try some sort of cybernetics… and if she used her quirk to make it…

… but what's the point? Part of me just wants to try and stop this. To give up and let myself slip away. What life could I live right now if it doesn't work? I have a quirk that just lets me surf the net better… that's not a life worth living is it? Why should I-

" _I couldn't just stand there and watch you die!"_

… that's right. I'm not the only one who's in a bad situation right now am I? At least I have a Quirk…

" _I can still fight…"_

At least mum's decently well off…

" _It'll be alright… because I am here."_

…

What was I even thinking? So my body's badly hurt… but I still have a Quirk. I can still find ways to help others… if All Might can be coughing up blood from using his quirk too much and still smile, if Izuku can hold onto a dream despite it seeming impossible, if Uraraka can be willing to give hers up to help her parents out… what kind of hero would I be if I just gave up now? If I gave up when I have before me something that could let me be an even GREATER hero! Screw that. I need to go beyond.

I close my eyes and slowly try to focus on that… feeling. The feeling that hit me when the lines criss-crossed me during the fight… like an electrical tingle running through my body. I focus on the metal arm, as if trying to use it like my own arm. I just need to flex my hand and-

The arguing has stopped. I slowly opened my eyes and saw both the doctor and my mum shocked… and the hand of the metallic arm flexed. I can… I can feel the metal. I can feel my fist! "Mum! I can feel it Mum!" I stated eagerly, unable to stop smiling.

The smile on her face meant the world for me after all that… and it was probably a mark that things were just getting better.

* * *

"Japan?" I asked.

Mum nodded. "See sweetie… after you were so brave like that, I got to talking with your grandparents, your aunt and uncle. I know you've been going to school here but… I thought it might be nice if we gave Japan a try. You always seem to enjoy the news when All Might is on after all." She explained, even as she carefully measured and adjusted some gadgets that I'd only guess are connection ports for the arms and legs. With the doctor's supervision.

Of course, it also means she doesn't notice me giving her a sceptical look briefly. Somehow, I doubt she wants to pack everything up and just go to Japan because of family… but there's no way I'd be able to ask her. A five-year-old isn't supposed to think about things like apparent legal charges or the reality of almost losing a family member because there weren't any heroes around scaring their mother. At the same time though… it's not exactly like I have any friends at school. I'll have to learn how to speak Japanese more and faster but… well, mum's been teaching me how to speak Japanese too… it doesn't stop me feeling a bit guilty though…

"Can I bring my toys?"

Like I said though, for a friendless five-year-old, not much to be worried about.


	2. Chapter 2

As it ends up, yes, I could bring my toys.

But it wasn't quite THAT simple. After all I had just been made a quadruple amputee through intense Quirk use, and the cybernetics WERE untested and unproven before. It was a miracle that I could use my quirk to show that it could work… but the doctors soon noted that it might not work if just plugged into me. That just started up a whole new argument and resulted them calling in another hero to try and talk to both me and my mother.

"Ah, is this the little squire to be whose been the talk of the town?"

Unfortunately for my respect in the British Hero system it was the #9 British hero… Sir Doctor. A man in a costume that made him look like an honest to goodness knight in shining armor… with an attached stethoscope and gloves made of rubber, as well as what looked to be an oversized scalpel as his weapon… and a top hat on top of his helmet. All that's missing is a monocle and a handlebar moustache and he'd be a walking British upper-class stereotype.

"Good to see you Doctor." Mum said, shaking his hand… had they worked together before? I mean, I had heard about this guy on the news before but-

"Mum, is he an actual doctor?"

Oops. For a moment there's a stretch of silence, my mother horrified with her mouth hanging open… before a deep chortling started up, echoing out from the armor, before bursting into full laughter. "Your child is a bright one Lady Butterfly! Most children wouldn't think to ask of the man in armor before them was a doctor or not, and that can be dangerous. Just like Butterfly, always thinking." Sir Doctor noted. "But worry not young Master Ferros! For you see, I am the healing hero Sir Doctor, and I refuse to allow my costume to be a danger to my patients. As such I ensure that my costume is designed so I can always be ready to help treat someone. And yes, I am a doctor, and I have been knighted but that was after I became Sir Doctor"

… he's starting to give me flashes of All Might. But damn can I see why he's #9. A minor noble of the modern day, who could just get by with being a doctor, going out into the public to defend people and then remain behind to treat the wounded… that's amazing. Aaaaand now I feel a bit guilty as to having pulled him away from work.

"Now, Lady Butterfly… the device?" Sir Doctor asked.

"Over here. But you know as well as I do you can call me Kasumi if you want Sir Doctor." Mum admitted.

The two walked over to a nearby table and while I couldn't hear anything… I swear they were talking to one another. Stuff that admittedly would probably go over my head. Even in my past life I was never any good at science, middling in electronics and best when it came to the actual use of the software, but still only a minor point by comparison. And then there was my Quirk. To put it like a certain sound based hero from Japan – whose name I think was… Mic? Mike?

 **Kasumi Ferros and Edward Ferros! Quirk: Technopathy! This quirk allows the user to understand the workings of and have control over nearby technology, even allowing them to take apart and reassemble the technology or force it to perform functions it wasn't designed for. However this quirk can put a strain on a body depending on the weight of the technology and while deconstructing technology is easy enough, reconstructing it is all based on what you know.**

Thanks, inner monologue that I made sound like Mic. I'm also never admitting to anyone I'm doing that, or they'll think I'm crazy. The limits of the quirk did explain a few things though, while my intentions had been to simply drive the car towards Tarantulus, what I was doing was forcing the car forwards through my legs… which broke them because they weren't used to the power yet, a lot like Izuku using One for All. While in theory new limbs would allow me to handle more stress on my body through them, it was all for nought if I couldn't get them working as a part of my own body.

I'd just have to hope on that

* * *

Sir Doctor wasn't a fool. He was many things. A modern knight in shining armour. The #9 hero in Britain. Voted most likely to be on a packet of crumpets in Hero Weekly. But he was no fool. As he poured over the designs he could see what Kasumi had in mind for these parts but… on such a young boy? Who only just awoke his quirk?

"Kasumi. I can see what you're trying to do with this… but do you think his body is producing enough Quirk Factor to make it work? And what if his body only accepts it at first but never adapts to them as his new limbs?" He questioned. It was a clever idea at least. Make the limb ports modular and attach them to the boy's arms and legs, have quirk factor flow through them and in theory with a few weeks getting used to it the boy could be using his cybernetic limbs like his old ones despite their artificial nature… in theory even able to be removed and replaced with little issue! But if the body didn't accept the parts fully, then it could leave the boy vulnerable to Quirk cancellation.

"Then I'll think of something else." Kasumi answered, her voice a whisper and a determined glint in her eyes that Sir Doctor had only seen once or twice from her before. "… how goes the trial proceedings?"

That caused Sir Doctor to wince at the sudden coldness in her voice… but he couldn't blame her. While Kasumi had likely be raised understanding how the Japanese Hero system worked, there were… subtle differences between it and the British system. Changes in the law back from the days when Quirks had first appeared… which meant that while the laws on vigilantism were more relaxed when it came to rescuing others, the laws on self defence had Edward's situation be… illegal. "The public is in an uproar about it. And frankly I don't blame them. It's an archaic rule that should have been noticed and changed years ago… and I never noticed. That's the second time I failed you two." If he had only gotten to the scene a bit faster, made it a priority when he heard that it was Iron Butterfly's son that had been injured, if only they had told him how serious-

He felt a hand grip his own… and as he looked to the side saw Kasumi smiling at him. "Michael. Don't beat yourself up like that." Kasumi insisted. "Tarantulus left a path of destruction everywhere. If you got there sooner… yes, Edward might be okay… but how many people would be far worse off? At least Edward has a chance to have a normal life again." She noted, hot tears starting to run down her face.

Sir Doctor had to blink away his own underneath his helmet… and he simply turned away, looking at the blueprints once more. Looking over them carefully… after all, he was determined – if he couldn't help the boy before, he could help him now. He may not be able to save everyone on the battlefield… but in the hospital? This was HIS domain.

* * *

I groaned as I slowly opened my eyes… the last I remembered, there had been a flurry of activity as they rushed me towards surgery then… blackness? Oh, they must have put me under. Urgh… my stumps feel heavier right now, wha-

I stopped and looked at the limb stumps… except there was more than that now. On each one was a metallic parts that had been attached. It was almost too perfect a match really now that I looked at it, the metal for the ports was very bare bones, no exposed wires but no casing over it to make it look like a real arm. It abruptly ended in what looked to be a plugged in joint, but beyond that was a metallic arm, hanging there to the side and looking to all the world like an actual arm… you'd have to look hard to find the connecting point. It was as if my arm was there again… and as I looked to the right and down, I could see there was another arm, and two legs – minus toes… I… I felt almost whole again.

"Well… look who's awake." Mum said.

I looked up and could only smile. Mum and Sir Doctor were both there, although from how he had his shield and scalpel placed haphazardly to the side I think he might have been about to head out.

"Well, if the blueprints and my surgical skills were as effective as I hope they were… you should be able to move your limbs normally, with some physical therapy of course." Sir Doctor noted. "… in theory."

Mum shot Sir Doctor a look that despite the bags under her eyes clearly radiated annoyance and disapproval at him saying that… but sighed and put on a smile as she looked back towards me. "What Sir Doctor is saying Edward… is we need you to move your arm for us. Your left arm, I know you're left handed." She encouraged.

I blinked… I mean, that sounds easy enough. But just to be sure… I focus on that feeling I had channelled twice before. The feeling of taking a hold of my quirk, of taking a hold of my arm… and lifting it, smiling as I waved to both of them… only to stop as I noticed mum's smile slip for just a moment. "What's wrong? I'm moving it." I asked

"And that's great honey… but I meant without using your Quirk." Mum insisted.

Oh. I looked at her and then at Sir Doctor, who nodded. "You should be able to move that arm without using your Quirk. Maybe not that well at first… but that will improve with therapy."

… ah. Problem with having to fit in as a kid for a few years… you sometimes really do act like a kid and do things like this. And while I can feel a lump forming in my throat I slowly put the arm down and release my quirk… before pulling at my arm once more, trying to force it to lift up… but nothing happened. My heart sunk, even as I tried forming my hand into a fist. Nothing. I tried to wiggle my feet. Nothing. Wiggle my fingers, my thumbs, flip the bird, something! Nothing! Nothing nothing nothing nothing!

I only stop when I feel my mum place her hands on my shoulders. "Edward, that's enough. This was a bit of a long shot anyway… we can try other versions of it." She insisted… but the barely formed tears in her eyes told me otherwise. This… this is the only chance I have to live my life. Even as mum turned away, the shadows in the room seemed to feel darker again…

No. No I'm not going back to that. There has to be… something that isn't working right that I could work on. I just need to… focus. Mum can feel out a machine by placing her hand on it and focusing, but I could do the same thing just by focusing on these cybernetics right? I just need… to focus….

All at once I feel information push itself into my head as my Quirk activates. As I focus on the machines that are my limbs currently. The little parts that allow it to have the full range of motion like any other arm, but around it there's… pipes? They look like veins… what are they pumping in… it doesn't look like anything but… wait. There's something trying to get in from the connector port… but there's an extremely small error! Could that be a design flaw? I flinch even as I think it… I'm starting to get a headache from this… it'd be so easy right now to let go…

But I won't. I won't give up on my mum and Sir Doctor's work. I won't give up on these cybernetics to give me my current life and dreams back! I won't give up on me! And even if it hurts… well, that just means I need to go… PLUS ULTRA! I reach out and grab the small parts of the four limbs… and start to adjust them. Sliding the precise components out of where they had been designed to go and into the right places! There's a grinding sound that I'm sure echoes out, but once I connect the parts, instantly I can feel something rushing into the false veins, something that isn't blood… but at that moment I don't care.

I snap my eyes open… both mum and Sir Doctor are looking at me in shock. I look at my arms… no physical change seems to have happened but still… I smile and shakily raise an arm up. I… feel a bit… heavy. "It's fine… it took a look… you just needed to move it a little." I noted with a finger raised… before I can feel the darkness claim me.

* * *

Of course, just because I COULD use my arms and legs now didn't mean I was going to get out of the hospital immediately. Instead my days mostly consisted of regular visits in the evenings from Mum, days if she had them free, and physical therapy… of sorts. When your limbs go from flesh and blood to metal, you understandably need to relearn to use them… and to balance.

But I wasn't doing that right now. Right now, it was the middle of the afternoon, just after school would have let out… and I was lying in the hospital bed, bored. Using a Quirk to turn on a TV like a remote control loses its lustre after the third or fourth time you do it. So I just sat there and waited for maybe one of the nurses to check up on me… and lo and behold, the door started to open. A doctor entered… but I don't know if it's any of the ones I've seen. Sir Doctor can't have me as a regular patient and a number of doctors have actually been interested in the new artificial limbs – from what I can tell they only really work because of my Quirk and how my body has adapted to it. But… well he's holding up a clipboard at the moment, so I can only tell he's a he and has no super abnormal mutation Quirks.

"Doctor?" I asked

The man lowered the clipboard with an exaggerated "tsk tsk". And it was easy to see why he was playing it up so much… I'd recognize that face and that black hair anywhere. "And here one would think you'd want to be like Jean-Luc. If you wanted it that badly, I could have given you a heart like his." Q commented.

"What do you want Q?" I demanded.

"Oh, and you're even starting to SOUND like him. I'm hoping you're not planning on making that a trend." Q responded, placing the clipboard down on the bed. "Frankly I'm shocked you haven't been demanding to see me when you're alone. Many lesser men would. Just because they were put somewhere and something bad happened that they weren't expecting, it must be Q's fault. But not you."

"Well, were you?" I queried.

At that Q just smiled, but chuckled. "Now that's interesting. Despite having a brush with death you don't blame anyone for it… but you're still keeping your mind open to the idea that someone could be to blame. And here I was worried everything in this world was going to be so… barbaric."

"It only seems like that on the surface Q. This world has so many wonderful things in it-"

"Oh spare me the speech. You're not Picard and you don't need to try to be him around me." Q commented.

"What about Sisko then?" I asked with a smirk on my face, raising up an arm and forming a fist with it.

Q just chuckled again. "Ah, there's the bravado in the face of the impossible. You humans always try to make things interesting at the least." He admitted. "And who knows… you might just see me around now and then." At that, he snapped his fingers… and with a flash he vanished.

I sighed… and then blinked as I looked down. The clipboard was still there. With a bit of effort, I pulled myself up and had my hand reach out and grab it – in itself not a terribly easy task, having to relearn fine motor control again was annoying, and learning to control my strength was hard too given that these mechanical limbs were slightly stronger than what my old ones had been. And on the clipboard… was a simple picture. In fact, Q had doodled his own face onto the paper.

"Edward? What's that you're holding?" Mum asked. I looked up in shock at her entering, I had been so distracted by the doodle that I hadn't heard her. Before I could argue otherwise, she took the clipboard from my hand and looked at it. "It's very well done. Have you been practising?"

"A little… but I think I just got lucky." I lied. Easier than telling the truth in this case. And somehow I have a feeling Q is laughing at this.

* * *

Thankfully beyond that little encounter with Q, things at the hospital went smoothly afterwards… at least for me. While my days were full of physical rehabilitation and lying in bed – mum had insisted I also get a drawing pad for my hands after Q's little gift and I'm no better at drawing in this life than the last – it gave me time to watch TV on occasion… and although the nurses tried to avoid me seeing it, I slipped looks at the news. As it ended up my little incident had ended up digging up one of the UK's older hero laws about self-defence – that because at the time I wasn't in actual danger from the villain, my reaction in ramming the car into it was an act of assault. Apparently it was for the safety of those with Quirks from being assaulted by people "in self-defence". Clearly it had been planned for it to be quiet, but as it ends up mum and I had gotten a lot of outspoken support from the hero community. There were even suggestions that All Might himself had spoken in support – but no actual footage existed of such a thing and the British news can be a bit… tabloid sometimes.

But suddenly a lot of things made sense. The fact that mum had suddenly decided to move to Japan most prominent… it made me think of Izuku and… that sludgey villain. He might have just rushed in, but he hadn't been charged with assault, just told off for risking his life. And with me not having any real ties to England…

…

Should I tell her? It would sound unbelievable coming from a 5-year-old, but I almost feel dishonest doing things this way. Yes, this gets me to Japan and hopefully I'm the right age to be in U.A. at the same time as Izuku and his class, but at the same time it feels like by not speaking up about it, I'm asking her to move away for my sake. To throw what established career she has here away.

"Edward? Sweetie, are you there?"

Oh! She managed to sneak up on me! Another part about being a kid I suppose. "Oh, hi Mum!" I said with a smile.

Mum… frowned a little. "Edward, you looked frustrated by something. What's wrong?" She asked.

Oh boy. Ok, gotta word this in a way she'll take seriously… "Mum. Are we moving because I'm in trouble?" I asked.

Silence. For a good few seconds that's all that I hear from the room around us. And mum… seems to go to deny it at first… before a sad smile crosses her face. "You've a smart boy Edward. A bit too clever sometimes… you've been watching the news on the TV." It's definitely not a question. "… but for once you're wrong sweetie. You just were the last straw. I've known about the problem they brought up for years… it's a bad law and they refuse to change it."

"But you're leaving everything you've got behind because of it!" I called out… only to be cut off by mum's smile brightening a little.

"You sound so much older when you figure things out like that. But mommy has sorted things out… so don't worry about it." She insisted with an actual smile.

And just for a bit, things felt ok.

* * *

Once I managed to show a "satisfactory" level of improvement in the eyes of the doctors, and with a few days at home for safety so mum could be sure I wasn't having troubles, we started to pack. Well, mum packed, and I tried to help. Despite having heavier limbs now, my arm and leg strength had been limited to that of a five-year-old boy's, and I had no desire to change it yet – according to mum she planned to change them out for bigger models as I got older. But before long we were saying goodbye to the house and were off to the airport… and with only a few heroes I didn't really know, Sir Doctor and friends of mums to say goodbye. If nothing else this whole accident just reminded me of how… alone I had felt without my Quirk. Only friends I really had were adults. Well… that was going to change.

… if I had known who I was going to encounter at the Japanese airport, I might have reconsidered this angle of approach.

* * *

"Ooooh! Is that them daddy?"

That was the first words I heard when I exited to the public section of the arrival terminal. Thankfully mum had been teaching me Japanese for years at this point and had made a point of refreshing me while I was in the hospital… but no knowledge of the language could prepare me for a pink haired girl whose hair was generally cut into a bob cut, looking to be about the same age as me given her height… and with what looked to be crosshairs in her eyes zoomed towards us, not to hug mum as one might expect… but to grab my arm and look it over.

"This is an amazing arm! How far can it reach in each direction? Is the elbow some funny hinge joint or is it a ball joint like a toy? What about your hands?" She asked rapid-fire, grabbing my hand and moving around in a full circle leading me to wince. A phantom pain, but still not comfortable. Even so I was becoming increasingly both amused…. and horrified in equal measure as she slammed out questions one after another. No. No it couldn't be.

"Now now Mei, remember what Mama told you about acting like that to your cousin." An older man, fully Japanese but with a glorious pink beard and well brushed slicked back pink hair… which he just combed with a comb he made from a finger and then deconstructed. "It's been a while sis. And this must be my adorable little nephew Edward-chan." He reached down and ruffled my hair at that. "I don't know if you remember me but I'm your uncle Yubi. Hatsume Yubi. And this is your cousin Mei… she's been waiting to see your arms and legs since I told her you were coming."  
He admitted with a chuckle.

"Still the same energetic little Mei-chan I remember you telling me about." Mum noted, pulling Mei into a hug – and away from me. I was still trying to process the fact that I was cousins with Mei Hatsume herself. "Has everything been sorted with your group?"

"It took a bit of talking, but once my boss heard your hero name he couldn't agree fast enough." Yubi commented, even as he took the luggage cart and held out a hand for me to hold as we walked… which I did, still silent as I thought about… well, just everything this meant.

"I thought he'd jump at the chance for a support company to have their own spokes-hero." Mum commented, even as she took Mei's hand… and had her on the other side of the cart. At least mum can recognize what she might do.

Yubi shook his head. "If the hero is well known, they're usually with their own established agency, and if they're not, you run the risk of them being caught up in a scandal… remember Captain Celebrity? But with your latest news… well, it's made stories here too."

As they continued to talk and we headed towards the car I just allowed myself to think, even as Mei occasionally spoke up asking about mum's inventions… and three thing came to mind. The first is that I'd have to try and show her that my arms and legs weren't toys… even I hadn't realized my hands could go full 360 without issues though. The second was that if I wanted to understand and upgrade my arms, I might just have the perfect help if I can put up with her babies…

And the third was a very definite desire to punch Q in the face.


	3. Chapter 3

As the car pulled up to the Hatsume – and for a time, our – home I had a few expectations as to what I'd see. A moderate style Japanese apartment. A decent style western household. A goddamn rocket ship – it seemed like the sort of thing that Mei's family would live in if they were all like her.

I wasn't expecting a TWO-STORY TOY SHOP/HOUSE COMBO. And calling it a simple toy shop doesn't do it justice. It's the sort of toy shop you'd see step outside of a child's imagination, complete with electrical trains that raced outside and then back into the shop puffing actual steam out of them, a spinning gear on the front of the shop for its logo, and a massive sign declaring it **"TOY WORKSOP!"** with a toy robot that had eyes like Mei's giving a thumbs up next to the logo. But the reason I called it a combo? On one side of the toy shop there was a large set of stairs that lead up to the second floor… and the moment that the second floor was hit it looked like someone had put a perfectly normal, if Western Style, house on top of the toy store, only adding to its oddness.

Even in my daze of looking at the toys I vaguely noticed my mum and Uncle leading me and Mei in to what I could only describe as… well, a bunch of things but… well, you could definitely tell Mei's mum was a Hatsume alright… and probably where Mei gets her manic spirit from. After all, having rideable ladders all around the place, shelves full of toys, standard and not so standard – I swear I can see some real classics up there, explains where my Kamen Rider figurine came from – to displays put on like one showing All Might clashing against Goku from Dragon Ball, the area around them blown away by the impact, to play areas set up in seemingly random positions along the floor, and in one case of a basketball hoop, wall. Two kiosks were right at the front of the store, and the hustle and bustle of kids excitedly going around and looking for toys was almost deafening. But as we kept being lead through, and I had to just stare in stupor… I think it was what was at the back of the store that had me the most impressed. A red-haired woman, with similar locks to Mei's own and eyes that showed the zoom Quirk clear as day, And she had a number of tools out working away on a plush teddy bear that was being made for a kid who seemed to have pencils for fingers… only for each of his claws to have their own little pencil on it. Or in other words… who I could only assume was Mei's MUM was making personalized toys with the same zeal that future Mei has for her Babies.

"Aaaaaand there you go! Pencil-Claw the Huggable, all ready to be there when you need a hug!" The woman stated, handing the bear over to the young boy – younger than I was, yeesh. He smiled and walked off with his mum… and I could get to see the full workstation. There were fabrics, there was wood, there was metal, plastic, paint, clippers, files, mould line cleaners, brushes of all sizes, stuffing, beads, and that's just what I could see! She stood up, the woman dressed in white gloves and boots, wearing a set of rainbow suspenders on jeans over a white shirt, and a big fat smile on her face… and a pair of goggles that had a couple of lenses off to the side.

"Mei! Sweetie-Fingers! And is that my lovely Sister in law and Nephew?" Oh god it's Hurricane Hatsume part 2. She soon picks me up in a whirlwind hug and kisses me, before putting me down fast enough to be dazed. "Did you enjoy the modified toy we sent you last year? The Kamen Rider?"

"Oh? I thought that was an actual original." Mum noted.

"To the naked eye it is, but that toy hasn't been produced for a while… and I didn't want my precious nephew to have a toy that might fall apart. So Yubi let me take a look at one of his dad's old childhood toys and I compared it to my own works… it's a Hatsume Te original! One of my precious babies!" Oh no there's that word. But… dammit my curiosity is too much here!

"You get to make toys? That's so cool!" I remarked with a big fat grin. How could I not? I was literally a kid in a Hatsume level toy store!

"You betcha Edward-chan~" Te stated with a giggle. "Half the toys in this store are my own make, it's what makes me appeal to the kids compared to all the other stores in town. Sure, you can get an All Might figurine at other places, but you won't be able to ask for a custom teddy bear stitched to wear the toy accessory t-shirt like some of my babies! I even helped out in designing your new parts."

Mum chuckled a little at that, embarrassment shining through. "Really it was thanks to you two and Sir Doctor that they got done at all. I've never had to think about a full range of motion like that before." She said.

"Human bodies are some of the finest machines out there." Yubi commented. "But compared to our smarts? We can improve on it!"

As the three started to talk excitedly about my arms and legs I slowly looked over at Mei who… had made her way over to the workbench and was looking over the materials. Making my way over, I noticed that some parts of the bench had clear signs telling Mei she wasn't to touch them. Oh well… might as well go for the youngest part of the tornado again. "Do your parents always get like this when they talk about things?" I asked. Te just pulled out a wooden 3D poser model and is showing off range of motion now.

"Mhm, but only when talking about their Babies~." Mei noted with a grin. "When I grow up, I wanna be like them, to use my brain and build stuff… but I dunno what yet. I was thinking buildings maybe, make big Babies~" Aaaand suddenly my mind is flashing to a house built by Escher. "But while Mama does a lot of cool things here, I don't think I'll do toys. I like my Babies to be used for more than just cuddling, I want my babies to be great, to be ground breaking, like nobody has ever seen!" And now I'm imagining Mei taking that literally and making it a house that causes earthquakes. Worst part is she'd probably do it too. "What about you? What do you want to do when you grow up?"

I grinned at that. "Isn't it obvious? I want to be a hero!" I noted…. And almost recoiled with how quickly Mei got into my face… and her grin was growing. Oh no.

"A heeeero huh? And a hero with mechanical arms like you might need some support backing him up right?" And she's pushed closer. "And if I became a supporter like Papa I could help you fix and upgrade your arms and you could use the Babies I make!" Oh god even closer! "And then if you get big the big companies aside from Papa might see and I might become a big supporter!"

"Um… possibly!" I admitted as I walked back a bit. "That's years away, though right?"

"You can never plan too soon!" Mei insisted.

I couldn't help it… I started to smile too. "Well… we're cousins. I wanna help you out with whatever you do." To a point but I'm not saying that to a kid. "Hey, you know where the trains go right? I saw some disappear into the back."

Mei grinned and grabbed my hand… and started to run.

This was the start of something great and possibly terrifying. I can tell.

* * *

This just meant it was time to try and settle into the new normal, to settle into our life in Japan. Thankfully the Hatsumes were decent to English – Yubi being more proficient than Re or Mei of course – and there were a few days planned for us to adjust. To adjust to a fairly normal – bar Mei's own room which was full of considered and discarded projects of all sorts of subjects – house on the second floor of the toy store. But Once we adjusted for the jet lag, Mum started to make final preparations for me to do what I… kinda knew had to happen.

Japanese Schooling. Specifically, the school was the same that Mei went to – Kazuraba Elementary. Usually they didn't take on student's part way through the semester, especially foreign students, but as it ends up Yubi had enough of a presence to push a bit on them to make an exception. From what I heard, the school was on the look out for the best and brightest kids especially with their programs… so that helped too. Not that any of them think I noticed of course.

Classes were fairly standard. Of course, it was sort of funny seeing each of the teachers being on eggshells around me, double checking with me during the lessons that I understood – thankfully I wasn't too far behind, and most of the teachers had a decent enough grasp on English. And beyond my grasp on Japanese, there was also the stares. After all, I wasn't trying to hide my metal limbs, and the uniform wouldn't do so anyway… and more than once I got asked if it was my Quirk.

I think that's why I decided to go find somewhere to sit away from the usual lunch room during the break, somewhere on the school's grounds… and ate to myself. I suppose I could've eaten with Mei but… well, the moment a break bell started she seemed to run off somewhere – probably to read up on some other thing she could do. The girl is dedicated.

"… about you stop using your faker Quirk!"

And that's when I overheard… talking. This part of the grounds had some supervision, but not too much… I had picked it that way, so I could have some time to think without anyone looking over my shoulder. But as soon as I heard that voice… I put lunch down and wandered over around the corner. A blond haired boy, kinda scrawny looking, was being surrounded by three others, one with what looked like a Sea Urchin for a head, one with what looked to be extra long double jointed arms… and one who just flat out had four arms, two of which had the blond kid pinned to the wall and seemed to be made out of plastic.

"I-I told you Daichi-san, that IS my Quir-" I flinch as one of the double jointed armed kid's fists hit him in the gut. Geez, isn't the bullying supposed to wait til they're older?

"You're lying! You must be some freak who can pretend to have a Quirk!" Daichi stated. "Like those bad guys from the cartoons!"

"Worse than being Quirkless! You're a Quirk thief!" The Sea Urchin one stated

… hold on. Copying? Blond hair… that seems familiar… but either way, if this guy is important or a background character… "Hey!" I called out, drawing the attention of the three young bullies. "Leave him alone!"

"Eh? You're that new kid, right?" Long-Arms stated. "Stay out of this. We're just… talking with our buddy Monoma."

Wait, Monoma? The kid from 1-B who can… copy Quirks. Right, that's concerning, but another time. "Didn't sound like it to me." I shot back. "And I don't think he wants to be here."

"Nah, we're just having a chat!" Daichi insisted, turning his head to look at me. "A nice, friendly-"

And then Monoma moves his hand and grabs Daichi's… only for one of the plastic arms to grab the other, letting him slip out of the grasp of the larger boy and run over my way. Long-Arms reached out to grab him, but I push forward and grab his arm before it grabs Monoma. Sea Urchin looked like he's half torn between charging after Monoma or helping Daichi out with his arms… and Daichi just glared at Monoma… and then at me.

"T-thank you." Monoma gasped. I nodded… and looked at Daichi… before letting go of the Long-Armed kid.

"You should go hang out with each other. Lunch is almost over." I noted… then turned around and started to walk away. And soon enough I hear the predictable… footsteps rushing at me. Only one set so…. I sigh and simply turned a corner sharply when I hear the footsteps close enough which left Daichi stumbling briefly before he regained his balance. "I mean, what would the teachers say if you were caught trying to beat up the new kid?" I continued.

"It c-could get you into a lot of trouble." Monoma added with a shaky smile. "Wouldn't it be difficult trying to explain to your mums and dads?"

Daichi looked torn for a moment between anger and worry… before letting out a loud grunt. "Let's go. If the new kid wants to be friends with the Quirk thief, let him!" He called out, the three walking off with a grumble.

I sighed… before I put on a smile and looked at Monoma. "Sorry I… saw you like that and I didn't-"

"Why?" Monoma interrupted. For a moment I tilted my head as I rolled around that word in my head. "Why did you help me out then? You heard what he said, I'm a Quirk thief, I'm no better than being Quirkless… not without someone else to let me copy theirs…" He slumped down against the wall. "Do you wanna yell at me too about it? I mean why not, I deserve it don't I-"

"You don't."

Monoma stopped as he looked up at me… and I smiled and simply extended an arm out… before having my hand do a full 360 rotation. He looked on amazed for a moment… before he looked at me, an eyebrow raised… but said nothing, waiting for me to go on I suppose.

"My arms… and my legs. They aren't part of my Quirk. They're a part of my body that I can control… but my Quirk isn't anything special unless I have things around me to use. Phones, TVs, computers… I tried moving a car once and… it hurt." Understatement, but still. "And… you said your Quirk is to copy others, right?" I asked.

Monoma nodded. "It's not special, I don't have any mutation… it's not cool." Monoma noted dejectedly.

"It's REALLY cool!" I remarked eagerly. Monoma looked up at me in shock. "The way you used Daichi's Quirk to turn his arm against him… you could be a whole team of heroes at once!"

Monoma blushed at that and rubbed the back of his head. "Well… I can only use one at a time." He stated… but smiled. And I grinned back, holding out my hand… and soon enough pulled him up. Before I decided to shake it… before letting go and grasping from below in a different hand hold, then bumping my fist against his, then from below his and from above. "Uh… what was that?"

"It's a friendship handshake I saw!" I stated with a smile. "We're friends now… if you wanna be friends?"

Monoma grinned a little wider at that and nodded… even as his stomach growled. "I… think Daichi took my lunch." He admitted with a blush.

I shook my head. "Mum packed a candy bar from home – we can split it!" I insisted. "English Chocolate."

"I've never had English food!" Monoma stated. "But… my mum does some lovely creeps."

I blinked. "Crepes?"

"Yeah!"

I could only giggle a little at that even as I reached into my lunchbox. Both at the eager acceptance of the mistake and of the irony. I was bullied in England for being Quirkless, and here I am making friends with a kid who was being bullied for 'stealing them'. And it's Monoma no less!

As I split the chocolate bar mum had packed, and we both ate… I had to admit. It felt… nice to be able to do this.

* * *

When a few months later I was at age six, there was a big party held at the toy store itself – apparently Te actually did this on occasion, but she wanted to make my first Japanese birthday be a special one. At this point Monoma – sorry, Neito - and I had become fast friends… with how smart he was and lacking the… enthusiasm that Mei has I could be a bit more… of myself around him, show a bit more of my intelligence. And none of Daichi's group had tried to pick on Neito or me again. Of course, that hadn't stopped me making a few friends with some of the other kids at school, but of them Neito was easily one of the ones I hung out with most.

Which was why I was glad when he arrived he didn't shrink off into the corner… and I grinned as the kids went around. I had asked to have some stuff "from England" at this party… and between Mum and Yubi they had delivered. Some proper British style fish and chips for the main meal with cake for after, and the drinks were a mix of Japanese regulars… and a few that might not be so prevalent, especially one I was glad to see still around.

"So this is French?" Neito asked as he drunk from his can slowly. "It tastes… different."

I nodded. "They call it… Origina… it's like mixing orange soda and orange juice!" I said happily.

"I can taste it!" Neito noted. "But… the decorations… were they your idea?"

Ah, yes. Um… yes, they were, and there was a reason why even a kid like Neito might question it. I'd gone for a Super Hero theme for my party, complete with Te making some special displays for the kids to look at… but it was a mix of heroes like All Might, Endeavour, Kamui Woods and the like… as well as by my request, 'classic heroes' So there was a Kamen Rider dodging around Endeavour's fire, Ultraman firing a beam at Kamui Wood's branches, and what had to be my favorite, a centrepiece of Superman and All Might in a crater, grasping at each other's hands and pushing, trying to see which one would buckle first.

I had only suggested the characters; the rest was all Te's work.

"I picked the heroes!" I said with a smile.

Neito nodded. "I… kinda know who Kamen Rider and Ultraman are." He said as he pointed at the two in turn. "They were TV heroes, before Quirks, right?"

Much to my despair Kamen Rider no longer runs. Oddly enough Super Sentai does, but when the theme is more based on Quirks it gets a bit stale and repetitive. Still, I nod at that.

"Then… who's Superman? Is he some hero from England?" Neito asked. My jaw dropped… oh of course. Superman isn't AS big in Japan even in my old life, so of course they might not remember him…

"He's… another before Quirk one. Comics." I blushed at that as Monoma laughed a little. "He looks cool!"

"He does… it's just… no-one else seems so… excited about these old heroes Edward!"

I blushed even deeper at that… but I smiled all the same. "Well that's because… they didn't have Quirks. And yet… they got to be heroes. I look at that stuff and I think 'can my Quirk work like that'."

Neito blinks and looked back out at the three figurines… before I chuckled.

"Besides, you didn't mind it when we first met, and I shook your hand." I noted.

Neito's face was priceless, confusion for a moment, then shock. "That was- it was- from one of those?"

"Saw a video once of it." I said with a grin. "Kamen Rider handshake!"

For a moment Neito paused, seeming not to know what to do… then he smiled and walked over. "Ferros-san, do you know where the bathroom is?"

"Neito!"

* * *

Of course, the cake was good, I got to expose a bunch of kids to how cold water fish tasted when properly deep fried fish, but as the party was winding down I… couldn't help but smile as we started talking about the displays and who would win in a fight. Kids stuff but it was the stuff I kinda liked in my old life.

"Do you think Kamen Rider could beat Endeavour Edward?" One of the others asked, and I smiled. Some of the others had opinions, but I was being asked a lot. Birthday boy privilege I suppose.

"Maybe." I said. "It depends how much space there is…. Kamen Rider would need to dodge a lot!" I insisted.

"And what about All-Might and Superman? Who wins there?" Neito asked.

"All-Might!" "Superman!"

Cries erupt all over the modified store at this… and I looked back and forth. "I… don't know." I admitted. Can't say Superman, I shouldn't know about All Might's wound and it'd be hard to explain to Mum where I found out about Superman hearing things from space.

But soon enough the day wears on and people start to leave as the party comes to an end. The last to leave is Neito… and Neito I ensure at least leaves with a display figure and an insistence to look up the old heroes of TV sometime… but as Neito left, I looked back onto the table… and noticed that there was another present. One I hadn't seen there before… and Mum stood to the side and smiled. With a blink I walked up and unwrapped the present slowly… and I couldn't stop myself from smiling. Before me was… was a phone. A tablet phone. With a custom casing on it that showed Kamen Rider on the back.

"You've gone through a lot these last few months Edward." Mum noted as she pulled me into a hug. "So, I wanted to make your present something special. You're a smart boy for your age… so I'm going to trust you with that mobile phone. For emergency calls and it only connects to the internet if connected to Wi-Fi… but I was thinking you could practice with your Quirk a bit too."

I didn't say anything… I just wrapped my arms around her waist and hugged her.

Because I just noticed on the back an engraving.

' _For my little hero Edward. Love Mum'_


	4. Chapter 4

As time passed things started to get more and more normal once again. Or at least as normal as things can be with metallic limbs and being the half foreign kid in a Japanese classroom. But with a bit over a year to get established as a hero again, Mum didn't want us overstaying our welcome with the Hatsume's, so by age seven we were moving into our own apartment in a complex nearby. Honestly, I feel oddly more… at ease with this sort of thing, especially when manual labour is involved, because at times like these Mum isn't focusing so hard… so I can push my cybernetics a little harder in what I can lift and carry.

This is what I'm thinking when, as I sit down on the couch with a huff… I hear a metallic sounding 'sproing' sound as one of my fingers pops out of its socket. As you can imagine I kept absolutely calm about this.

"AAAAAAAAAAH!"

… you react calmly to your finger popping off of its hand.

"Edward? Honey are you… oh." Mum noted as she raced in, only to sigh. "Thank goodness… I was just thinking I needed to do a bit more than a touch up to your limbs. You were starting to look a bit short compared to Neito-kun." As she said this, she reached and opened the cabinet under the TV and… are those spare arm parts? "I had a few of these prepared… but let's get to testing it."

I blinked at that. "D-don't I need to go to hospital again?" I asked. It was such a big treatment last time…

Mum smiled as she shook her head. "Of course not! Have you noticed your ports haven't been hurting you at all even though you've been growing?" She asked. Huh… that's a point actually, why haven't they? "The design of them was considered with your growing body in mind! So long as someone who knows how to is on hand to occasionally replace a damaged piece, you won't ever need to change them out… and from there it's all about unplugging one arm or leg and replacing it with the new one sweetie." She started to connect the parts, connecting one end of it to… my left arm? Holy crap when did she manage to get that out? "Seems like my little boy hasn't figured out all my tricks." She added with a giggle as I noticed.

I blushed at that… but still watched as she assembled the arm, something clearly draining frome one arm to the other… wait… "Is that the Quirk factor being pumped into it?" I asked.

Mum blinked… and then smiled. "Such a smart little boy you are Edward! Yes, that's exactly it… so you don't need to worry about too much." She remarked, even as one of her gadget gloves fingerwalked over to her, leaping onto her hand as she turned one of the fingers into a screwdriver, clearly focusing on the fine tuning… something I watched intensely. After all, I don't want to have to rely on Mum on the battlefield if my arm breaks, do I?

…please don't let me be a Genos.

* * *

By age 8 things had settled into a routine. Oh, when the school holidays were on sometimes we had family trips with the Hatsume's, and on occasion there would be family meals or visits to friends houses, but for the most part aside from some occasional discussion of Quirks, it was a lot like what I… vaguely remembered when I was eight. Less video games but you look at Pokemon 100 years on and consider trying to catch 2000 odd Pokemon. I didn't think so.

But yeah, things were back to a routine of sorts. No villain attacks – in fact I was starting to get asked on occasion at school about Mum again. Until one day during the middle of the Holidays were mum said she had a surprise in my room… and it was one I was still gaping at.

"A computer?" I asked, slack jawed.

"It's not the best I've made before." Mum noted. "And usually I'd wait a couple more years before letting you use one… but to be honest you've shown that you're further ahead than most kids would be at your point." She went quiet at that…. Does she think I'm like this because of the accident? I hope not… "Plus I think it's time we tested another aspect of your Quirk you haven't really had to test before. I want you to try and connect yourself to this computer…. It's not connected to the internet right now."

I blinked at that… odd insistence, but nodded, and took a breath out… before focusing on the computer in front of me and letting my Quirk do it's work and-

Files, settings, Start, Recycling, Word processing, CD Drives! Information floods into me all at once like a sudden wave hitting me… and then it's gone and…. I'm on my back. When did that… whoa… that's a bit of a migraine. I groan as I slowly pull myself to see mum with a slightly apologetic look on her face. "I… see why it's offline." I said… before starting to chuckle, a chuckle that mum soon joined in on.

But if nothing else… that one moment made it clear I wasn't going to just become overwhelming with this power overnight.

* * *

Mei Hatsume wasn't oblivious. Despite the fact that she tended to focus on what was fast becoming more than a hobby, but an obsession in engineering and inventors, often reading about famous inventors through the years, she didn't need her Zoom Quirk to notice something the adults didn't… that there was something… different about her cousin. Edward. Most kids looked at her reading all the time during breaks or fiddling with a model kit or little project that papa had given her and thought she was weird. Even her friends that she had accepted that she was a bit different, even if they were impressed by just how knowledgeable she was. Mei herself didn't really care what people said though, it wasn't going to stop her from doing exactly what she wanted to do.

And yet out of all the kids… Edward seemed… different. He seemed to be a bit more like the adults. When she talked about inventors and what they did, he seemed to stay focused and listen, or even suggest ideas to her back. None of the other kids really did that. It was just Mama and Papa and Auntie Kasumi. And she still didn't know exactly what it was that made him like that. And really… she didn't care. She LIKED that Edward and, to a lesser extent, his friend Monoma-kun were willing to actually talk to her about inventors and machines like that. People who were able to somewhat keep up with her…

Which was why she had asked Auntie Kasumi for something special this close to her ninth birthday without letting Mama or Papa know. And as she slowly opened up the rather plain looking box she grinned as she looked at the metallic arm inside, zooming her focus in on it and looking it over. Mama and Papa said she'd need to wait to make her own inventions… but in the meantime she planned to study Auntie Kasumi's big one. Oh sure she knew she wouldn't understand a lot of it, but she could already tell some of the design fundamentals were in place, stuff like the ball joint type connections for the hands to the arms and more… Mei could barely disguise the grin crossing her face.

Looking at this… she could already feel the sparks of ideas forming in her head! She took hold of the arm and started to pull slightly at the fingers.

* * *

Monoma looked around the living room slowly. "I thought you said we were going to try and practise stuff with my Quirk?" He asked.

I grinned back. Ten years old and Monoma was basically like a brother to me. And it had me thinking a bit as to just what Monoma in the series was like… it's not exactly an easy thing to forget surprisingly. So, I had to think of just how to help him out with both his confidence… and his skills.

"It is!" I insisted. "Your Quirk lets you copy things… so I thought we could do two things. Firstly, we can help you get better with my Quirk until it's just like if I was using it!"

Monoma blinked. "But… it's still using your power." He pointed out.

"Mum tells me about some of her hero work." I replied. "Sometimes she wishes she had another her on hand to cut off chases or get through electronic locks of hideouts or stuff like that… and then you wouldn't even need to use gadgets after, just tap another teammate with a battle Quirk on the shoulder and BAM! Twice the firepower!"

"So… you think I could be… the extra help?" Monoma asked.

I shook my head. "Monoma. Your Quirk and mine… they're similar. So long as we have the resources we need, we're awesome. I can do all sorts of tech stuff… but if you're with a team of heroes and fighting a team of villains, they might be able to fight the others…. but how do they fight someone who can be anyone on the team at once?"

Monoma looked at me for a moment… and then looked at the TV. "So… what did you have in mind?" He asked slowly.

I just grinned.

* * *

Helping Monoma train was all well and good, but by the time I was eleven I not only had managed to be able to interface with the computer while it was offline, but I could even do it online as well… so long as I didn't open too many tabs. Really, I had made it so that one hour a day – of the two Mum would let me be on the computer for – I tried to be connected to it. Which meant fewer videos and more of other sites.

Which lead me to the wonderful world of geekdom! Superhero geekdom in general! I tried getting back into roleplays like I had in the past, or even fanfiction writing, but with my life so weird as it was now and the fact that I was living inside an actual world from an anime/manga series, the same drive wasn't there. What was still there was a dedicated fanbase online of old shows and, to my glee, old superheroes from fiction… and naturally, the modern heroes. This led to discussion, criticism… and fortunately for me, debate! There was a public debate forum where people could discuss heroes and villains, past, present, fictional or real, and compare them to one another.

The quality of evidence for these arguments varied but what do you expect from a VS Debate?

As I scrolled my way through the information there, I sighed as one caught my eye. Someone had opened up a "Who could take on All Might" thread. These were fairly common, but people rarely used All Might. Usually it was some other hero, a way of comparing them to those in the public eye and fictional counterparts. Whoever this 'Mighty All Might' person was clearly wasn't concerned though, as he had been debating back and forth…. Hmm… alright then, I think I know a match.

Leonite: You wanna have someone who might give All Might a challenge, we need to look to fiction. How about the original Kamen Rider? He punched with the strength of a nuke!

I didn't need to wait too long before I noticed a reply… and I grinned as the back and forth could begin.

MightyAllMight: A nuke? How?

Leonite: Cyborg and it was the 1970's. Still strong though

MightyAllMight: All Might would be faster though!

Leonite: You'd be surprised. Rider's don't really need their bikes.

MightyAllMight: All Might could beat that! I hear he can punch so hard it splits the ocean!

Leonite: Ah, he must be strong then to defeat the eternal enemy of the Kamen Rider.

I couldn't help but chuckle at my reply there… before looking at my own metallic hand. Metal sinks in water if it's dense… and mine isn't buoyant. Damn.

* * *

I grumbled a bit as I picked up a metallic piece with a now floating hand, starting to fasten it into place slowly to the main frame of a new arm… Mum had given me the basic parts as part of my twelfth birthday and I had been slowly working on it…

 _Behind the school after class. The teachers couldn't be everywhere at once when school was over, and while they focused on all sorts of other places, there was rarely a need to put someone out around the back. And the fact of the matter is since I met Monoma I've been taking notice of these things… and as a result where some of the bullies hang out. So when a student had been telling a teacher that he saw their friend being dragged off behind the school… I started to make my way there, Monoma behind me._

And hadn't that been a fine decision? Monoma's been commenting about me having a hero complex and I'm starting to think he's got a point. Mind you I've never been ok with bullies in either life… it's just now I have arms and legs that aren't exactly easy for the bullies to hurt, and a friend to support me if they try flinging insults. Monoma might insist otherwise but he is in RARE form when it comes to counter insults.

" _Eh? Five of you, all with quirks, against one boy? Isn't that just reinforcing that you feel inadequate if you do that? And even then, you're just targeting the first Quirkless boy you could find, are you worried what might happen if you pick someone who can fight back against you?"_

I slowly look at the cracked remnants of what was once an arm. Unfortunately, being in a world of Quirks means that the bullies can be a bit more confident too.

 _As the head bully reached out at the kid, their hand was vibrating._

"Monoma! Boost!"

Using a borrowed use of my Quirk Monoma thrust both arms forward, sending me flying over and sticking my arm out in front of the hand- and the sound of screeching and grinding metal rung out, cracks forming in the arm and sparks alight from some places, Quirk Factor fluid leaking out of other spots. Their hand stopped, the sound vanished… and the silence engulfed us for a moment…

Needless to say, that and the ensuring furious yelling from me, Monoma and even some of the other bullies had resulted. That level of sonic power would have broken bones if they were lucky, and fortunately had just broken one of my arms. Still meant that in order to get this done, I had to give up the afternoon to work on the arm though.

* * *

Kasumi sighed as she walked into the room. She wasn't entirely blind to the reason why she was here… with Edward's metal limbs and her own Quirk, sometimes she was asked to perform support work even before she came to Japan. Really even with that she wasn't all that great with meetings, she felt it was a lot of time that could be better spent out on patrol. At the same time though… she wasn't exactly going to say no to the man who more than once had contacted her to discuss hero tactics. And who had been asking on occasion for her help and consideration since she had gotten to Japan. She sighed… but smiled slightly as she opened the door and entered the meeting room.

"I hope the tea is to your liking Nezu-san."

The white dog/rodent simply smiled and sipped as she commented on it. "Mmmm yes. It is so difficult to get a good quality blend of English Breakfast – proper English Breakfast that is – sometimes." He commented. "And how is your boy? Edward, I believe it was?"

"He's doing fine." Kasumi noted. "But… sometimes it feels like he's growing up faster than the other kids. He's always been a bit mature for his age but... he's only thirteen and yet I feel like he's holding onto more than he's saying."

Nezu's smile grew a little smaller at that. "It's only natural for a parent to think about their child that way. I see so many students mature and change in such interesting ways at U.A., so I do understand how you feel to a point." He slowly took a sip of the tea… before setting it down as he pulled up a case. "But if I'm being honest I'm not here to talk about the school. As you can imagine it dominates a lot of my life already."

Kasumi nodded. "I understand… but you're not just here for a friendly chat either, are you?" Kasumi noted. "You'd have tried to arrange something less formal. This leaves a record."

"I don't try to make all my plans as precise as you might think Ferros-san… but thank you for the compliment." Nezu responded. "But if you're interested… I would like it if you could come down to U.A. on a day when you aren't busy. The new students are going to be undertaking one of their tests soon and we'd like to… ensure the robots test their skills."

Kasumi blinked… and then chuckled, a slight grin crossing her face. "So in other words… you want them to expect one thing and receive another." She said. "You haven't changed a bit."

Nezu simply chuckled back, smiling a bit more as he saw an old acquaintance actually smile.

* * *

I blinked as I looked at Mei. "I'm sorry, you want to do what?"

"Make one of my first babies with you!" Mei remarked. "Using your arms, I know you've been working on them recently. I also know that Auntie Kasumi usually limits the strength you can access to be closer to standard human levels, but because you're planning on being a hero, you're going to need to be able to do more than that with your Quirk."

I blinked… and sighed. "Phrasing, Mei." I simply commented… but I grinned at that. While I was still a bit cautious about my cousin's… growing interest in inventing and engineering, at this point we were both fourteen. It had been almost ten years since that first moment of her turning my hand around all the way on a whim and… well, while I won't say I fully trust her, I did trust her intelligence. "But as for what to do… yeah, I've been thinking on that. What were you thinking, a limiter remover?"

"Too risky and uncontrolled." Mei dismissed. "And when I tested it my test model exploded! No no, if we want to go for something that speaks Hatsume Mei we need to think bigger but better! So that the bigger you get thrust into the spotlight, you can remind the big companies that your arms were modified with the help of Hatsume Mei!" Oh god she's getting closer to me again. I sloooowly push her back. "So I had a few ideas. What do you think of jets in your hands!"

"Too liable to explode. Trust me, I already considered it." Monoma had been the one to point it out too. "… wait, so that means you're planning on going to U.A. after all?"

Mei grinned her ever present grin, nodding. "Mhm! I'm thinking we can use whatever I use to modify your systems as part of a display of my amazing talents!"

"Maybe a part of it… but I want to be involved when we integrate it into my arm." I insisted… "Call it a co-op project. Mei and Edward Invention #1!"

"I still think it sounds better as my baby!"

"AND I KEEP SAYING PHRASING!"

* * *

As time passed… it almost seemed like no time. Until… the day came.

The day that we would apply for U.A.


	5. Chapter 5

When my fifteenth birthday came around it was like a knot had tied itself in my stomach… a knot that stuck around and only became more noticeable as the months wore on and we came closer and closer towards the entrance exam date for U.A. Things generally got busier… Monoma and I weren't the only ones in the school aiming for U.A. after all, news soon got out that Mei was aiming for the support course… I didn't even want to imagine what their entrance exam was like, Mei apparently knew already and had been working on something in secret. The worst part about it I think was the fact that nothing super unusual had happened… it was almost like when I went for the academic extension tests for high school back home. No odd suggestions of Quirk tests, no requirement for blood samples or the like… it seemed perfectly normal to apply for the tests. Not helping matters is that not only do I only have a few fainter memories of the practical exam and nothing else by this point… but at the same time Q hasn't shown up in about ten years. And when he's involved it's the lack of his presence that sets you on edge usually.

I sighed a bit… Mei, Monoma and I were making our way up towards the test building and… well, I've never been fantastic with tests. Ironically if it was a job interview I'd probably be more at peace with myself, but I suppose that's the case when Mum was suddenly called out of the house during breakfast this morning to deal with a hero in need of assistance.

"Geez Edward… if you're so tense, why not fiddle around with your phone a bit?" Monoma asked. "You're so tightly wound up I swear I hear the springs in your arms straining."

"He's already done that last night." Mei commented. "He asked me to record and see how fast he could beat the original Angry Birds game with his Quirk alone."

"It was that or try and see if I knew the phone well enough to disassemble and reassemble it without breaking it, and while I can do that, you know how my Mum gets when I do Mei!" I grumbled. It was a habit I had gotten into really, and one I was trying to break… but I hadn't brought ANYTHING for me to fiddle with and given that I tend to use my Quirk a bit more and more nowadays to do stuff like access my phone far faster and the like, I can't even really be satisfied with that anymore. Still… I look over at the others. Naturally they're both in uniform but while Monoma is simply in his usual school garb and backpack… well, let's just say that Mei was putting the school's motto to the test with the long and relatively thick package strapped to the back of her backpack. She wasn't letting either of us look at it. Special preparation for the support exam perhaps? Maybe even her tools and some materials? Argh, never mind, that way lies the madness that is the mind of Mei Hatsume.

Still, as we stood at the gate, Mei's grin got even wider…. And I swear I could hear her giggling grow stronger. Still, I couldn't help but smile a bit as we approached… while I looked around to see if there was anyone that might spark memories in my mind. Let's see… a guy with a drill shaped pompadour, stylish but not familiar at all. There's a… floating uniform? That one seems vaguely familiar. And a big guy with… really puffy lips. But then again, I suppose I'd be a hypocrite for staring, because I can tell that people are looking at me and whispering. I've done my best to use the long-sleeved outfit to cover up my metal limbs, but gloves would be more obvious that I'm hiding something. At least there's no mention of spiders, but I'm pretty sure people know me from my Mum… thankfully I haven't made it open knowledge beyond the school that my Quirk is the same as hers.

I'll just have to hope that the modifications I made to the limbs were enough. Monoma looks confident enough but… well Monoma looks confident all the time now. It's actually kinda encouraging that he's not the type to instantly go for mocking those who oppose him, the mental image I… pretty much had stuck in my head. It's easier to remember him and Mei because I've spent so much time around them both since coming to Japan. Mind you he hasn't stopped that completely but… take what you can get, given he was bullied a lot until I showed up I'm honestly not surprised.

Aaaand both Mei and Monoma are looking at me. I chuckled a bit… and stepped forward, as we all made our ways towards the doors. Towards the greatest hell any student can think of.

Written exams.

* * *

"For all you examinee listers tuning in, welcome to my show today!" A blonde man in a black punk rock-y kind of outfit and wearing a speaker around his neck announced. Of course, everyone in the room probably already knew it was the Voice Hero Present Mic, but personally I think of him as 'living proof that I'm not the only Quirk user with prosthetics' " _Everybody say hey!_ "

"Hey!" I called out… to the chorus of silence around me. Even Monoma had kept quiet, but I just grinned at that. While taking the exams is a chore, I tend to be better after them, and Mic has stage presence! Plus, his radio show is actually pretty good.

"Well at least one of you is eager and ready to get the show started!" Present Mic called out, matching the mental voice I had conjured up years ago to a shocking degree. "So let's keep the show going with the guidelines for your practical! _Are you ready_?" Huh… that last bit being in English… sorta sounds familiar. Before I can speak up after recovering from it Mic continues on. "This is how it goes eager listeners! After this presentation you will head to your assigned location! While there you'll be conducting ten minutes worth of ' _Mock Cityscape Mauvers_ '. Bring along whatever you want ok?" And silence once more… um, was he expecting an- "Okay?" Yeah, he was. Fine.

"Okay!" I call out in return, a few other voices joining in as I do. Still, as I sit down I look at my sheet… ground E. And as Monoma peers over he chuckled.

"Always so enthusiastic about the cheesier things." Monoma teased quietly. "Looks like we're on different grounds though. I'm on Ground C."

"Probably for the best." I whispered back. "Who knows how useful my quirk might be against them?" Seriously, I don't know. While we have got sheets showing us that we're going to be fighting various kinds of robots… well it all depends on how smart and well designed the robots are. The more complicated the design, the longer it would take me to control one. At least with my cybernetics and my training I could fling them about if I have to, but Monoma - while he has been training - is still just a relatively fit standard human. Still, as we quiet down Present Mic starts discussing the three faux villains in the test, using sprites of a Goomba, a Koopa Troopa and a Piranha Plant respectively… complete with a sprite of Present Mic in a Mario outfit taking them down, the first by stomping, the second with a stomp and then kicking the shell, and the third coloured like Fire Mario… except he fires out a blast of sound. So many questions… but none of which are really relevant right now. Fortunately attacking other examinees is forbidden, so no-one's going to be dumb enough to try and pull something so childish.

"Excuse me! May I ask a question?"

Eh? That voice sounds… oddly familiar, but I can't place it. Still, looking at the person who stood up to ask it… blue hair, tall, glasses… it's really seeming familiar. "There are four types of villains on the printout! If this is a mistake, then it is highly unseemly for a school as prestigious as U.A. to contain it! We are all here today to be made into model heroes!" Yeah, that's really seeming familiar. "You with the curly hair! You've been muttering the whole time, it's distracting! If this is a game to you then go home!" And he's pointing to a boy with… green curly hair? C'mon, even I remember that one… even if I don't remember the name, I know he's someone special… "And you! With the metal hands! While it's good to see someone enthusiastic, please watch when you react, you might have obscured information others would hear otherwise!" Oh, he's talking about me.

"There's no need to worry about that Examinee 7111, I know how things get when a crowd goes wild!" Mic responded, before explaining the fourth type faux-villain… the zero pointer. That's sparking a memory of something big… but with a shout of PLUS ULTRA from Mic – and myself naturally – we started to file out and towards the battle centres.

* * *

"Hatsume Mei?"

Mei perked up as her name was called, although as per usual she was always at least a little perked up. She had no idea what the test was like for the hero course, but for those who applied directly for the support course they had their written exams, and then had been lead to a specific room where they were called in one by one, seemingly at random – from what Mei was able to overhear it wasn't in any alphabetical choice, maybe it was based on age? But regardless, that wasn't what she was trying to focus on, even as she walked up to the other door, leaving her nervous competition behind. No-one had come back in after they left, so nobody really knew what happened. Still… as she exited through the door, it was into another, simple hallway. Sparse, no decoration, and with one staff member leading the way before opening the door… and leaving Mei's jaw threatening to hang open.

The room itself was fairly expansive, big enough to fit the entire tested group in and have space to spare. Around the room were a variety of targets on display, simple ones as well as dummies in the look of civilians and villains… but off to the right of the room was also a series of obstacles, inclines, walls, faux-cliffs and the like. And towards the back of the room, near yet another door, was a panel of three people sitting together. She recognized the first of them of course, the head of the costume design course Power Loader – costume design being an important part of the support course - and the duplication hero Ectoplasm – more for an interest in his Quirk as she had been considering more and more about the relation of Quirks and Items recently. The third however… she hadn't ever heard of as a pro hero. She wasn't big on them of course, but wouldn't Edward have mentioned a fluffy white… rat… dog… animal hero?

"Ah, there you are, Hatsume Mei correct?" Power Loader asked. Mei simply nodded, dropping her bag down and grabbing at the package she had brought with her. "This is the practical test for Support course applicants. We requested that you bring an item that you've developed on your own with you to show us why you think you deserve a place in our Support course."

"We've aimed to have the terrain as flexible as possible for you to show us how the item works, but I'm here in case you need a moving target." Ectoplasm noted.

"Thank you very much! But it won't be needed." Mei insisted, even as she opened up the narrow end of the package… and pulled out what looked to all the world like a large metal… arm, pitch black in colouration, with the section between the elbow and the hand, having four distinct panels around the arm. As she pulled out her big invention, her BABY, the white animal hero seemed to perk up, the smile that had already been on his face spreading wider.

"That arm… of course, you're the niece of Kasumi Ferros, aren't you?" The animal hero asked.

Power Loader turned his head at that. "Principal Nezu, do you think she might have-"He started, sounding concerned.

"No, there's no danger of plagiarism there I think." Nezu commented. "None of her works quite look like what I see here."

Mei didn't sigh in relief – she was too excited to do so. She was glad she didn't have to argue her case before them – she had developed this first baby knowing it was a risk all along after all. And she had come prepared, as she reached into the arm… and pulled out an immense roll of blue paper! "And here's further proof, the blueprints for my baby number 1!" She added, handing the blueprints over swiftly to the panel before dashing back over to the arm and sliding it on. Even as she did so, she could see that Principal Nezu had rolled out the blueprints and was starting to look them over, which only made her grin stretch all the wider. "The moment that this arm is placed on, it activates, and it allows for the first function to activate, as it detects the arm around it and starts to adjust itself to fit!" Hatsume noted, a clear sounding of whirring emanating from the arm as she could feel it start to adjust for her size… she had deliberately made it a bit loose for herself just so she could show this function off after all. "For heroes of exceptional size, a larger variation would be needed, but this baby is designed to give heroes who are less combat oriented some more punch!" She called out, punctuating this by running over to one of the targets and punching it, hard enough to dent the metal target. "This baby currently is specified to double the strength and speed I can use through this arm!"

"Interesting so far, but I imagine on physically stronger heroes it might not work so well." Power Loader noted.

"Precisely! Which is why my baby is more than just a one trick pony!" Mei remarked, even as she thrust her arm out at one of the villain dummies, lifting her fist up as a black ball shot out of the underneath of the arm and with a sticky sound impacted with the dummy, spreading over the upper legs and lower arms of the dynamically posed dummy. "Which is why this arm is also equipped with two special tools! The first you see here are the capture arm! Simple sticky balls fired out with enough velocity to cause even the most stubborn of villain's problems with moving for a little while! And if they need to save a hostage-"Mei thrust her fist down, and a wire shot out of the top of the arm, a set of three hands spreading out as they're fired, grabbing onto the civilian dummy and pulling them back towards Mei "Then there's the rescue arm! With a solvent dissolver contained within the right of the arm and a release contained on the left, it allows even strength heroes utility at range!"

"So in other words, it's designed to be a general purpose powered arm that could also be used for utility and be used by a wide range of heroes." Power Loader noted.

"Correct!"

Power Loader nodded at that, before glancing over at the Principal and Ectoplasm, who looked back at him… and he nodded. "It seems there's no further questions. Thank you for the demonstration Hatsume-san, you'll get your results in about a week." He explained. Mei simply nodded, her grin never really leaving her face as she opened up the panel on the left of the arm and pressed a button on the side, a noticeable hissing sound making itself clear as the inside of the arm loosened up once more, with her soon removing it and placing it back in the box. She didn't ask for the blueprints back… those weren't the original copy anyway, and she was hoping it might get her a bit more credit.

Really her test was over so quickly in that aspect… she had to wonder how Edward was doing. She didn't notice the Principal get up and soon follow her out of the room, taking a different path.

* * *

" _Ready start!_ "

As Present Mic announced that and started to explain… something, I don't know, I rushed forwards. All I was wearing for the moment was a simple set of sweatpants and t-shirt at the moment, but it meant that I could have a full range of movement with my arms and legs without risking the clothes tearing off. It also helped that as I reacted as soon as Mic announced it, I was one of the first through the gate as I pushed my cybernetic legs a bit harder and faster than normal legs would be able to do… only to soon be matched and then overtaken by a blonde girl with horns and hooves, and soon followed by a man with wheels for feet, then by a few others… there's a lot of us taking this test, but I soon dived down a side alley… and almost ran fast first into one of the scorpion like two-pointer robots! As it thrust its tail at me I grabbed it… and activated my Quirk. I tried looking into the robot, to see how complicated it was, to see if I could control it… but there's so much in there. So many wires, so many connections, such a networked mind and the network it's connected to beyond-

-argh, no! That's an amateur trap! Whoever designed these robots thought about if someone might try to take control of them alright. Can't risk wasting time trying, so instead I focus on the more vulnerable metal in the inside and thrust my arms out spread. The tail jerked forward slightly closer to me before it dropped limp, a burst of smoke escaping the robot as the more vulnerable innards shattered. It's far from a clean job for sure, and there's no way I'd be able to salvage any of the parts for my own use, but I figured these bots are just meant for breaking anyway.

I quickly clambered over the two-pointer robot and emerged into a side street where a couple of light one wheeled one-pointers rushed a red-haired girl who already had… quite sizable hands full with a three-pointer. Like, massive hands. Must be her Quirk. Still, not going to look a gift horse in the mouth, I reach into my own Quirk and forced my legs to hit the asphalt with a bit more force, sending me sailing through the air briefly. As my metal fist slammed into one of the robots a loud metallic crunch rang out as I grabbed into the robot itself and used the force to swing into a heavy kick into the other one-pointer which spun out of control and crashed into a building. Before I could pull myself out of the first one, the red headed girl threw her robot into it and the latter crumpled under the weight.

"Thanks for the save!" The girl called out. "But I can handle myself!"

"Wasn't a question!" I answered with a grin, but even so I focused and PUSHED off the robot to get further into the faux city. "Just saw the points there!". The only reason I could get these results in the first place is because while the cybernetics were limited to a little above teenager level strength usually, that wasn't their upper limit. I hadn't even needed to change anything to get these sorts of results out of them. Which meant that as I ran towards a group of robots of various points, I grinned and forced my right hand into a fist, which started to spin rapidly as I charged at one of the larger crawling three pointer robots and PUNCHED into it, the spinning fist acting a bit like a drill as I forced it in, grabbed some wires and then pulled the hand out without stopping, before I lashed out with a kick into the next robot behind it – thankfully the resulting crunch I heard came from it, not me. Even so as I pulled myself up I looked around… the other robots had surrounded me and were charging in. I was hoping I wouldn't have to use this until later in the test for some speed but…

"Limiter Removal, Level 1." I muttered to myself. It was more to focus than anything as I tapped into one of the gadgets Mei and I had designed about a year ago. A series of increasing limiters that let me tap more and more into the arm's upper limits of its strength… but the stronger I got with it, the less control I had over the amount of strength I was putting out… and I'm pretty sure that the arm wasn't designed to go for the absolute maximum limits of its strength for long periods of time.

I pushed one foot off the ground as one of the two-pointer robots lashed its tail out towards me. As I started to spin from the push I grabbed the tail and used the momentum from the spin to FORCE the robot off of the ground and over my shoulder into another of them, before I leaped off the ground to avoid two more who crashed into on another. As I landed down onto one of the three-pointers I placed my hands on the missile launchers. While most of the systems were too complicated for me to hijack the missiles themselves weren't designed with the same complexity, as I started to force them out of the launcher-

And as I felt something start to go wrong I leaped into the air… barely avoiding twin plumes of fire as the launchers exploded! Argh, of course, the missiles were rigged to explode if tampered with! Great for some quirks, but not if I'm getting up close! Still, it seems like some of the debris has hit some of the others and the robots are climbing over the debris of the three-pointer, so I lash my feet out and crash through one of them as I land, before shoving at it from beneath it, using both the raw enhanced physical strength and my Quirk for good measure to fling it into a crowd of one-pointers, only one of them getting out of the way of the metal before I reached out with my quirk and forced the tail of the two-pointer from the start of this brawl to lash out and stab through it. Because while I can't control the machines themselves when their active, I can take control of parts of destroyed robots, because nothing is controlling them anymore… so long as I'm close enough. And seeing as some of them are still coming… I rush towards the destroyed group of one-pointers and focus, their arms ripping from the wreckage and starting to attach roughly, forming into the crude shape of… one of the arms – with a hole in it. I shoved my arm into the hole of this rough construct and SLAMMED it into one of the incoming two-pointers, before letting out a cry as I lash out again and again at a few one-pointers and two-pointers, feeling bits and pieces fall off the arm with each impact. As another three-pointer charged towards me I SLAMMED the arm into it, causing the arm to shatter and the three-pointer to stop as it tried to process what happened, with my arms free I ran forward and forced my first through its head before I pulled it back out, pulling some wires with me…. And then I simply panted as I re-enabled my limiter and looked around

Yeesh. Robots these might be, but at the same time they're definitely not all that well armored… which I suppose is the point, I vaguely remember someone using sheer speed to smash the robots in their exam, and the big handed girl seemed to be doing pretty well with just those. That missile trick was a pain though. Lessee… counting all the ones I've smashed through so far… that's gotta be at least, what, 35 points? Give or take a few at least, but that isn't good enough I don't think, I need to find more robots quickly!

I rushed on as I thought that, ducking through another side alley and-

Whoa. WHOA that's… BIG. That's gotta be the zero-pointer, but holy shit it's HUGE. It seems to be moving down the street away from me at the moment though, which is good, but there's still a couple of people fighting the robots around it – huh, there's the wheeled guy. I need to find another side street-

There's a large cracking sound as suddenly the ground beneath one of the zero-pointer's feet bursts up into a massive pillar and forces it off balance… and it started to topple backwards. Backwards when there's still some people fighting!

 _Fire, screams, metal crushing-_

I… I need to run but-

 _-blood, pain-_

… I…

 _-Katie's face lifeless_

… I can't risk that I might let them get hurt because I couldn't act in time again! "Limiter removal, Level Max!" I called out as I thrust my arms out and concentrated. Concentrated on using my quirk as bluntly as possible. To grab that massive robot and stop it! The two are already running but if I don't grab it they won't get out in time! As I reach out I can FEEL the weight pressing against my arms, pushing my legs into the asphalt beneath me as the zero-pointer falls slower and slower and…. Ok… it's stopped and… the others are gawking at it suspended mid fall?

"MOVE!" I yelled. "I can't hold it up like this for long!"

Suitably chastised the wheeled man is first to rush past me and out of the threat area, before others rushed past as well I could hear the metal in my arms starting to strain from the pressure… urgh… this is a pain… just gotta get back a bit! I just need to walk back a bit and-

'CRACK!'

As the sound rang out, the asphalt beneath me shattered and plunged my legs down into it… and with the amount of weight I'm keeping up even with the limits removed if I tried lifting either leg now, the other one would just shatter from the pressure on it. And I can't keep it held up for much longer… c'mooon…. I just-

 _Pain_

I just…

 _Bones breaking_

I…

Suddenly I see something shoot past me… no, there's a slight curve to it! That almost clear pale white colour, and the way it suddenly attached itself to my shirt, I could tell… it's tape!

"Let go of it!" That voice, that's the redhead from earlier! Given that it was either go with her idea or be crushed, I let my grip on the zero-pointer slip and it started to fully fall towards me… before I started to fly back with a sharp pulling sensation! I let out a shout as I suddenly landed with my back on the asphalt… and looking up at the pony-tailed redhead with currently shrinking hands… and a long black haired, sorta… plain faced guy, who seemed to have tape dispensers for arms. "You ok?" The girl asked.

"Gotta say man, that was crazy!" The guy noted.

I panted a bit, before trying to push myself up… and crushing the asphalt beneath me. I sighed a bit and focused on the limiters again before I used the other arm to push myself up. "Urgh… I think so." I commented. "How much time have we got-"

"AND IT'S ALL OVER!"

Ah… well, that explains it. I look at the two. "You know what? Never mind." I remarked with a slight chuckle, looking over at my arms as I did… urgh, that's gonna be at least a night fixing those…

* * *

It actually ended up a bit more difficult than that in getting home in the end. The amount of pressure that had been put on my arms and legs had been enough to almost break them. Still, it just meant I had to use my Quirkto assist, but that's the danger of using the limiter – even if I push myself to my absolute limit of strength, not only are the limbs not designed to be at that strength for long, but the force of whatever I use it on ends up playing havoc with them. At the least it gave Monoma, Mei and I something to do while waiting for the results… and wasn't that an interesting conversation.

"You were able to keep up a robot that big with the limiters all off?" Mei had asked. "Just what you expect when we combine your body and Quirk with my brain!"

"You really push yourself too hard sometimes Edward." Monoma had admonished. "But I guess there's worse things to have if you're going to enter a hero school than a Hero Complex."

I had chased after him for making a pun out of that frankly. And as a result, it left me sitting in my room slowly fiddling away with the newly repaired right arm, double checking it for any fractures or the like… even a hairline fracture could make for a dangerous problem down the line. It had been about a week now, so the results were due any time now. I hadn't heard from Monoma or Mei yet, so clearly either they hadn't got their results or didn't want to share it – something I doubt when it comes to Mei.

It was only a matter of-

"Edward!" Oh? Mum's home early today? I sealed the arm back up and plugged it back in, giving the hand a brief flex to make sure before I got out of the room and… and… and she's holding a letter! A letter with the U.A. emblem on it! "A friend of mine thought it might be more fun if you got this directly." Mum teased, even as she handed over the letter… and I swiftly grabbed it, stunned to the point of not speaking. It seemed like a normal letter from a distance, but there was clearly something inside it, something that I could tell was technological. Still, questions for later, I TEAR into the letter, and out falls… a projector. A hologram projector that lights up and-

"I AM HERE AS A PROJECTION!"

Holy crap. That's the man himself. The Symbol of Peace, the larger than life hero, and the pile of muscles that puts professional weight lifters to shame! It's All Might! In a yellow business suit, no less!

"Hello, young Ferros! You probably know who I am, but yes, I am All Might, and I am here because I will be working for U.A. starting this year!" Whoa what? How much money did they pay him for that? All Might is THE Big hero! "And given your actions during the Entrance Exam I thought it would only be fitting to tell you of your results myself!"

I swallow a bit at that. I know I destroyed a lot of robots but… I doubt I did that well. And I can never be sure about the written exam…

"Of course, you passed your written exam, doing quite well compared to some applicants!" All Might continued. "But as you remember, the practical exam had its own scoring system, with the robots you destroyed each being worth a certain value of points. You scored a total of… 30 points!" Damn, I was off by a fair amount… "This by itself unfortunately falls short of what you would need to apply for UA…" As All Might trailed off my heart sank… but I had tried my hardest, and 30 points is still a damn good result isn't it? "… if that was all we judged the exam by!"

"Wait what?" I asked. Mum simply smiled as I looked over at her, and then back to the projection.

"What sort of Hero School would turn away students who, when seeing a disaster in progress that could injure or even kill someone, rush in and put themselves in danger to save others?" All Might asked. "It would be a disservice to every Rescue Specialist Hero! And your actions in stopping the zero-pointer robot from crushing your fellow examiners when they stopped means that you deserve every bit of praise for it!" Oh geez, I'm blushing already All Might… "In addition to the Villain points we award for disabling the robots, we award Rescue Points for helping and rescuing others! For your actions, Edward Ferros, you've received 30 Villain points… and 40 Rescue points!" WHAT? So many for just one action? "This would leave you tied for fourth place with one of your rescuers, but due to her quick thinking in pulling you out of danger we have awarded you the fifth place position as a result!"

No way, no way! Is this really happening? Is this REALLY HAPPENING? I heard a buzz from my pocket… followed by a flurry of buzzes, but at the moment I just focused on All Might as he reached his hand out towards me. "Young Ferros! Welcome to your hero academia! Welcome to Class 1-A!"

I gasped at that as the projection ended… and I pulled out my phone quickly, my eyes widening further as the messages were from two people. Two people who I barely had to check the message to know what had happened.

I'm pretty sure they could hear my cries of excitement from their houses after all.


	6. Chapter 6

"Seems like everything's going right so far, doesn't it?" Monoma asked. We were sitting in a booth at a western style diner, Mum having offered to treat us both for getting into U.A. It was only a couple of days later and that still felt unreal in a way. To be accepted to the most prestigious hero school in Japan, if not the world? It still seemed almost dreamlike. "We both got into the hero course, Mei managed to get herself into the support course. And yet you seem… uneasy."

I blinked and looked up at him as he said that before allowing a slight smile to cross my face. "It's that obvious?" I asked

"No. But I know you Edward, you're only ever this quiet if something's bothering you." Monoma said as he simply nodded his head towards me.

I let out a sigh at that. "I… haven't told Mum this but I went a bit far during my exams."

"Doing what?" Monoma questioned. "From what you told me, it seems as if you had the right idea generally, even when the zero-pointer fell-" He stopped and his eyes widened. "… you think you could have done that better?"

"I don't know." I slowly leaned in a little closer, my voice dropping to a whisper "But that's not what bothers me about it." I admitted. "What bothers me… is that I froze up a couple of times. When I thought people were in danger. When I couldn't move…"

Monoma let out a sigh at that. "You really should talk to your mother about it." He noted. "But if you ask me… you're overthinking it. I've thought about what I would have done in your situation, and none of them end up all that well unless there were more robots nearby… not without breaking my arms anyway."

That's… true. My cybernetics do let me take more stress than I naturally would. It's why the Limit Removal system works at all. "So don't worry about it… and help me decide on costume looks. What says Copying?" Monoma pulled out a design sheet at that, one he had clearly written a fair few things on beforehand. It's actually a surprising level of thought actually, but it makes sense. While Monoma rarely inherits the mutations of others using their quirks, he does have to use them the same way that others use them… which is potentially problematic.

I slowly hummed as I looked over the notes. "I'd say you need to consider an outfit that you could easily adjust to use other quirks." I finally said. "I mean, if you had taken the cellophane guy's Quirk, you'd need to adjust the sleeves or take off the elbows to fire his tape right?"

"That's… a good point actually." Monoma admitted, quickly writing it down. "But then there's the issue of making it TOO flexible. I might need to adjust it depending on who my class is. But what about you, hm?" He leaned in and grinned. "Should I expect a lot of spandex? Or maybe you're going to try for the short-lived leather? Even if it doesn't-"

I made a light chopping motion against Monoma's forehead to cut him off. He'd gotten his tendency to go into rants like that more under control in the ten years, but when he felt strongly about something he tended to speak up. Credit where it's due though, he barely missed a beat with only a slightly sheepish look as Mum came back to the booth.

"It all depends on what sort of work you want to do, but with your arms and legs and how you use your Quirk Edward, spandex wouldn't be the best idea. It's flexible for me because I'm not as much of a in your face fighter." Mum noted. "You haven't even shown me the idea you have in mind yet."

I blushed at that. "Well… I've been working on it. I've had a few ideas for these as well." I remarked, flexing my arms. "What I do know is I want to let my inspirations show. But I don't want to look exactly like them. I'm hoping I'll be able to ask them to change the design to be flexible too… and I was going to leave the material up to them." I added… "And I plan to have a helmet." Aaand there's Monoma and Mum exchanging a knowing look at that. "Not because it's like the Riders and Sentai! I've been thinking about this, my centre body and my head are vulnerable usually, but my arms and legs aren't! It's tactical."

"Of course it is sweetie." Mum noted. "And the fact you've managed to find some of the older toys the other day has nothing to do with it."

Aaand there's Monoma giggling a little. I simply sighed… but I smiled anyway, Those 'Old Toys' were relatively new in my old life, I remember that much… but it's times like this where I miss my old Mum a bit. They both have similar senses of humour. Admittedly what I know from my old life is actually what's mostly been on my mind since the exam. I knew about this world before I came here… I knew a lot about the places, the laws, the heroes and villains, I even knew the full names of a fair few students.

But now? Now I have to focus to even remember Izuku… Deku. I know it's not his name but for some reason it's the other name I associate with him the most. But that's the problem, being in this world for ten years and with so much that has happened means that information has slipped my mind. It meant that I was out of it enough when I did the exam that I didn't even recognize Izuku was the other boy criticized and that was… Ba… Ba.. BAKUGO! That's right, he's got a name based on explosions! Urgh, but that really says how bad the situation is that I have issues remembering those two… or the fact that after the third time watching through my acceptance hologram, I suddenly realized I KNEW that All Might would be working at U.A.

But there's the rub. I don't have anyone I can talk to about it. I've known Monoma too long as I am, Mum would think I'm kidding as would the Hatsume's, and Mei… is not someone you talk to for balanced social discussion.

…

I think I need to give U.A. a call myself at some point. My memory is hazy, but besides All Might I remember there being some pretty smart people there…

* * *

Honestly there are just some things in life you have to savor. One thing I find that almost universally applies to? A nice hot cup of tea. "I haven't had a pot of tea that good since I moved here." I commented as I slowly moved my lips away from the the end I went to Mum and suggested that I talk to them about my issues. I tried to word it in a way that I meant the arms and legs, but you can never know with mothers. I wanted to get her opinion on it and all first. And then it ends up she has Principal Nedzu's number. Which suddenly explains EXACTLY why I couldn't hack the robots during the exam, because if anyone is going to have designed a robot to be able to counter others with her Quirk, it's Mum.

But that left me in the Principal's office of U.A. a couple of days later. Apparently, they were leaving spots open to discuss issues before the semester started. And thanks to Mum having to work, she didn't need to come with me for this one.

"You and your mother both know how to appreciate a good cup of tea when it's served to you." Nedzu said, the rat/dog/whatever smiling all the while. "Ah… but yes, I think I can already guess why you want to see me…" Oh? How come I get the feeling that he's probably right… "You wanted to get my blend of tea for yourself, right?"

I choked a bit on the hot tea at that, mid sip too, damn it. The Quirky Principal – in more ways than one – chuckled a bit at my reaction. "Um, no sir." I said. "I… don't know if you noticed but… during the exam. When the Zero-Pointer fell towards me… I froze up. I…" I took in a breath. I could already feel myself back at the exams. "I felt a… crushing feeling and-"

"You had a traumatic flashback to your accident ten years ago." Nedzu finished, even as he lowered his own cup of tea. I could only nod as a response to that. "I deeply sympathise on this matter, trauma can be quite hard to deal with…" He trailed off and leaned back into his seat, resting his arms slowly on the chair, even as his expression never really changed. "Your mother has mentioned a couple of times her worries, but I also see you don't want to make her worry about you, correct?"

At that I could only blink and stare. Ok, damn, he's good. Never tried to hide a secret from-

"And from the way your hands slightly tensed up just then, I take it that it isn't the only secret that you've been keeping."

Ok _how_. "W-what do you mean? I don't-" I cut myself off as I noticed Nedzu is looking right at me as I speak... before sighing. "… I don't know if I even can talk about it. It's… crazy. Insane sounding at the very least."

Nedzu hummed…. And then slowly took a sip of his tea before putting it down. "So did you come from another time period, another dimension, or from some alternate universe?"

Eh? Eh? **EH?!** "W-what… how…?"

"A number of factors. Your mothers tales of you, the score that you received for the written sections outside of the Japanese language, your mature outlook for your age and independence from your mother even though you would expect the opposite of a person after such an experience as yours." Nedzu noted, not showing the points on his paws but rather taking the pause to slowly sip from his teacup. "From there, I simply had to go with the most logical sounding approaches with the information you had given me."

"Dimensional and time travel are logical?" I asked dumbfounded.

"Ask All Might and he will have an interesting tale to tell you involving a villain who was trying to mess with fiction itself." Nedzu swiftly commented. "And with Quirks, nothing really seems to be outside the realm of possibility."

Silence took hold for a few seconds…. Before I smiled a bit. "Except it wasn't the result of a Quirk. After all, even if where I was from had Quirks… I died in 2018."

Nedzu leaned forward at that, seemingly to more dramatically grab his cup of tea, but his usual grin was a bit more subdued. "If you don't want to talk about that…"

I shook my head. "At this point it was fifteen years ago sir… and as far as I can tell, it doesn't seem to have messed with me… or if it did, it was the incident with Tarantulus that did the real damage." I noted.

"Fifteen years… so you reincarnated?" Nedzu asked.

"Not in the manner of most religions…. Although I'm sure the one who offered it would be glad to be mistaken for a god." … no reaction? Interesting. I didn't expect one from Nedzu but nothing from Q? Odd. "They offered me a second chance. A chance to live a life in a world of my choice… and if they think it's good enough, when I die here… I return to my old life, my death stopped."

Nedzu nodded at that, smile back at full force. "Interesting, interesting, and it's so absurd that either you're very good at making a story up to cover up another strange truth… or you're telling the truth. But if you haven't told your mother, why- ah, you told me because I'm NOT her, and because you think I'm the type who would understand your story the easiest."

I chuckled at that. "Two steps ahead of me Principal. I only planned to admit that if I absolutely had to… and you just happened to be the one to figure it out." I admitted, scratching the back of my head.

"And how do you know you can trust me with it more than your mother? For all you know I could secretly be some villainous shapeshifter." Nedzu pointed out.

I sigh. "If that was the case then it would make the fact that someone is watching us a bit odd… it's not enough technology to be Present Mic…." C'mon…. I might not remember much right now but if I focus… a red glare and…! "And given security reasons it would only make sense for it to be Eraserhead wouldn't it?"

Again, silence reigned supreme and... nothing. I raised an eyebrow at that… before Nedzu laughed openly. "Oh! Now that is good, and it tells me that you know more about this school than I thought… interesting. But while I would have one of my staff with me if this was a Student-Teacher interview, I'm not speaking to you as the Principal of U.A. Edward-chan. I'm speaking to you as Kasumi's friend."

I blinked at that again and started to smile a little and then just… burst out laughing at the absurdity of the situation, at the absurdity of my own life just seemed… ridiculous at that point. I don't know when, but I felt hot streaks run down my face as my laughter started to feel more and more hollow, more sarcastic as I started to remember so many nights of nightmares, of restless sleep, of waking up tired. The laughter started to catch and jerk as the grin on my face started to waver... before the grin broke and my laughter simply started to turn into sobs. "I… I… I'm sorry…" I forced out, each word having to work around the sobs. "it's just been… so long, so long with me second guessing myself, with me trying to live my life as a life and not just as a game." I whispered between the sobs.

Nedzu pulled himself off the chair slowly"There there… let it out Edward." I continued to sob, albiet a little more subdued as Nedzu made his way around the table. "I don't agree with you not wanting to see a psychologist… but it always helps to have someone to talk to." Nedzu commented as he slowly patted me on the back, even as I slumped down a bit and started to openly cry for the first time in years.

I wish I could say that after that it became an easier discussion. I wish I could say I could let out all my troubles at once. But while neither of those was true… it allowed me to do what I had denied myself for so long - to talk to someone who understood the weight on my shoulders and, I suspected, knew more than I thought about the pain I felt..

It left me feeling less of a weight on my shoulders. And a more genuine smile on my face.

* * *

And so, the days passed. Graduation from Middle School passed. Checks of Mei's bags for potentially explosive test plans passed – if only because I told her that Mum would be the one doing it – and before long it was time for the three of us to go off for the first day of U.A. Weird as it might seem, we all lived close enough to the Musutafu ward that with a train ride or two, we could get there ourselves. Of course, it gave us time to deal with the looming weight of what we were approaching…

"I wonder what sort of equipment they're going to have! Ooooh, and the materials! So many of these plans I've been making, so many hypotheticals, so many of my BABIES!"

… ok, so me and Monoma were. I simply sighed to myself even as I could practically see the stars in Mei's eyes as she was suitably nerding out. "At the least you're going to have an outlet other than my arms to test some of them on." I grumbled.

"You're assuming I don't already have upgrades in mind!" Mei shot back happily.

"Please no. My feet barely survived the last test." I groaned.

Monoma laughed, hands buried in his pockets. "You should give him a bit of a break, Mei. If the school's reputation is anything to go by, the hero course will be hard enough on him."

"You just make sure you don't insult one of your classmates like you did a couple of years ago." I noted dryly. Monoma's laugh died down into a little chuckle, but he still smiled. It was a bit annoying that despite being part of the same general class for all these years, the three of us were being split up. Me into class 1-A, Monoma into Class 1-B and Mei was naturally in of the support course classes, Class 1-H. But at the same time it's sort of needed. Mei, Monoma and I are as far as we can go while being able to rely on each other all the time.

"We're going to meet up for lunch times and the like still right?" I asked as we approached the massive central building of U.A. itself… whoa… talk about impressive. Ok, impressive undersells it, I've seen business buildings and vaguely remember some from my old life that would be jealous just for the sheer size and design elegance of the U.A. main building, the glass windows shining in the sun with a mirrored finish, not a single imperfection in the paths leading up towards the main building itself and… I'm going to have to ask Mei to check for me later, but I think that all the blades of grass have been cut to the exact same length! Clearly U.A. takes the image seriously.

"Of course. You might need me to translate for your friends through your accent." Monoma teased with a … the British accent. True to both lives, my mother having it means that it's stuck around, meaning that even after ten years in Japan I still sound foreign

"Assuming I ever leave the lab." Mei remarked, a twinkle in her eyes. Which was somewhat scary as she has her goggles on. Still as we headed through the doors, she broke off into a run, half-heartedly waving back at us before dashing off with a maniacal laugh in the way only Hatsume Mei can manage. I wish her classmates luck… even if me and Monoma took advantage of the time afterwards to make bets on how long it would be until she blew up the lab.

It wasn't that long after before I left Monoma behind at class 1-B, a smile spread slowly across my face as I caught a glimpse as the door opened, of some of the people there. I spotted the red haired girl from the entrance exams - a shame, she seemed nice then - a guy with pitch black skin, a guy who seemed to have no lips… none of them seemed to be the type to deal with bullies, let alone be them. Monoma was hopefully in good hands.

And now there's just me. Let's see…. 1-A… 1-A… ah, right, just down the hall. Makes sense… but man that's a massive door. Guess anyone with a giant mutation has themselves sorted at the least. Same as 1-B really. It practically glided open to the touch though, making it easy to get in and look around. So let's see, who's here… oh, it's Bakugou… and Captain Bring Down from the exam orientation. And they're arguing about his pose on the desk. Just gonna… steer clear of that. Let's see… Red haired guy – interesting style actually, wonder how much gel it needs – a girl who is… entirely pink - rings a bit of a bell especially with the red head – and hey someone I know!

"Hey man! Good to see you got in, too!" Tape Lad commented as I walked over to his desk with a grin, a desk he was currently standing next to at the least. "Didn't have the time to introduce myself at the exam, name's Sero Hanta." So Hanta is his given name, gotta remember that, damn western instincts! And hey, he's holding out his hand.

I take it and shake it… before changing the shake to a hand clasp facing upwards, letting go and formed my hand into a fist, pounding mine against his hand – which had clasped into a fist on instinct it seemed – before bumping first from below and then above. "You saved my ass before there, the Zero-Pointer would have squashed me without your help." I insisted with a smile "Ferros Edward, but you can call me Edward if you want. Anyone who risks their ass to help me out deserves to be called a friend of mine." It's a bit more forward than I was in my old life but… well I like any excuse to do the Fourze friendship handshake.

"Wait, so that was a special handshake you use for friends?" Sero asked as he tilted his head. "Kinda old for that aren't we?"

"You're a living tape dispenser and I've got robot limbs." I deadpanned as I pulled off a glove, exposing my metal hand. I had considered hiding it a bit longer but… screw it, this isn't middle school anymore, embrace the Quirk and embrace your situation. "Way I see it, we can be as mature or immature as we want."

"Those two over there would probably agree with you." Red Hair noted, as he gestured over at Bakugou and… OH! Iida! That's it, wow, that took a bit to figure out. "One's acting like he's the king of the playground, the other is acting like he's the teacher."

"Eh, it's the first day, everyone's got a bit of high spirits." Sero said.

Pinky suddenly leaned over. "Are we going to ignore the fact that this guy has a metal arm?" She asked, looking at the arm with… well, peppy excitement is probably the best description I could give.

"Not just one arm." I noted.

"All four limbs right?" Sero asked. I nodded back and both Red Hair and Pinky were looking on in interest at this point.

"Wait, so is that your Quirk?" Red Hair asked. "Oh, I'm Kirishima Eijiro by the way."

"And I'm Ashido Mina!" Pinky commented. "But it seems kinda weird to have metal arms and legs grow like that…"

"You say that but one of us has engines in his legs." I said, tilting my head towards Iida. "But no, I… had a bit of an accident when I was little and thankfully we managed to sort out some cybernetics."

Kirishima and Ashido at least had the good decency to look a bit guilty at that. "Sorry dude, didn't think it was that sorta thing." Kirishima explained sheepishly.

"It's fine." I insisted. "Someone was going to find out eventually, and it's better to get the questions out of the way now instead of confusing everyone later."

"Still it looks pretty cool… like something out of a movie." Ashido added with a pump of both her fists. "So can you fire-"

"If you're here to socialize, then get out." I blinked as I turned around… huh, the arguing duo had stopped, and Izuku had entered with a familiar brown-haired girl – more so than the others – that were both now slowly turning around. "This is the hero course." And… there's the sound of a sleeping bag dropping down – don't ask how I know that by heart – and…

Oh.

Oh wow.

Yeah, I recognized him the moment he walked in. His scruffy look that made it clear that even if he hadn't just gotten out of a sleeping bag he'd look like that, those tired and slightly bloodshot eyes that looked over the room and seemed to project a constant feeling of irritation, that black hair that looked like a hairbrush would run in fear from it, that scarf…. To most he might look unassuming.

But given what I had said to the Principal a couple of weeks ago? Even I recognized the underground hero Eraserhead.


	7. Chapter 7

"A Quirk assessment test!?"

Ouch! That's the annoying thing about this reality, you notice some anime clichés that you don't see in… my old world, I suppose? Can't call it the Real World at this point. But yeah, case in point? Everyone yelling at once. Oh, a brown-haired girl asked something – also another thing you learn is that while internal monologues can happen, they do still take SOME time. Anyway, focus on what Aizawa is saying.

"… is how unrestricted its school traditions are." Aizawa noted dully, his back to us… oh, he said more, but I didn't happen to hear the rest because of my own train of thought. He turned his head and added. "That's also how teachers run their classes."

Frankly I like it. Orientation days are all well and good, but some physical work could get the stress of going to a place like U.A. out.

"You kids have been doing these since junior high correct? Physical fitness tests where you weren't allowed to use your Quirk." Aizawa noted…. Before he glanced over at me. "With one exception I suppose."

I sighed at that while slumping slightly as I nodded. "These aren't just metal-" Aand now he's giving me a _look_. Right. I'll just shut up then.

"Its because the Ministry of Education is procrastinating." Aizawa noted. "It means that those with Quirks – or even those who are augmented – aren't allowed to use them. It's not rational."

Huh, rational… how come that's ringing bells again? C'mon, you need to focus on that sensation, you could be missing information that's vital to-

" _It was a rational deception."_

…. Oh. Yeah. That. Right, now I have an idea that could either get me in trouble or make things interesting… oh, Bakugou's been called up to do a softball pitch? I need to stop zoning out so much during this test-

"DIE!"

Aaaand there's a massive explosion as he throws the softball. Ok. That could be interesting, how would I use mine to- wait I'm zoning out again.

"Know your own maximum first. That's the most rational way to become a hero." Aizawa said as he turned to look at us directly… man, his expression hasn't changed, is he that bored by us?

"750 metres? Seriously?" … does that guy have a black vertical streak in his hair? Seriously?

"What's this? It looks like fun." Oh, Pinky!

"I mean it's ok." I said. "Doesn't seem fair on those of us with non-physical Quirks though." Like… well about the only one I can tell from here is a girl – I assume – who seems to have invisibility as her Quirk. Plus it's a fair point to bring up given Izuku and his state of his Quirk. I remember that much at least and – wait Aizawa is smiling and everyone's gone quiet.

"Alright. Whoever comes in last place in all eight tests will be judged to have no potential and will be punished with expulsion."

Oh, fucking hell seriously- no, wait, Rational Deception. Dammit, he said that so convincingly too…. I hope I'm remembering right because otherwise he probably WILL expel me for what I plan to do.

"We're free to do what we want with the circumstances of our students… welcome to the U.A. hero course!" Aizawa declared, finally showing something other than apathy as he runs a hand through his hair in the most menacing way possible.

"Expulsion? Isn't that unfair for the first day of school?" Brown-Haired asked. "No, even if it wasn't, that's still-"

"We want to be heroes… but a hero doesn't always get there in time to stop an incident entirely." I blinked… who said… oh shit, that's me who said that. Well… it's true. And now everyone is staring at me. "If things were fair, I'd still have my arms and legs."

"That would be because disasters don't play fair, and neither do villains." Aizawa remarked as he glanced at me briefly… ok, no _look_ at least. "For the next three years U.A. will throw as many hardships as it can at you. Go Beyond. Plus Ultra. Take it on with everything you've got."

Wait… is he… some people looked at me and… oh, clever Aizawa. You're using my interrupting to build on your whole metaphor through me. Clever. Just gotta hope people don't ask too much later...

* * *

The first test looked simple enough. A camera robot – that Aizawa is rightfully not giving me any chance to get near beforehand – set up for a 50-metre dash. And it's already getting interesting, Iiida firing himself across the line with his engines – as to be expected – Pinky showing off… some sort of slime? She's skating on it at least, and she shows up that… odd looking Navel Laser kid. Creativity is fine and all, but you need to be able to maintain it. But soon enough I'm facing off against… huh, a kid with dual coloured hair… or at least partial pigment failure. That's really seeming familiar and I don't have the time to focus on that feeling right now.

"On your marks."

I took on a runner's pose, as dual hair did the same I focused on within. If we're supposed to use our Quirks…. Then this is only fair.

"Get set!"

Just gotta hope Mei was right about those designs… huh, the air feels cold all of a sudden. Ok, just gotta adjust my feet slightly and…

"Go!"

With a burst of air I fired off the air cannons that had been modified and put into my feet. I even modified the shoes to have a gap at the back to make this possible as it sends me into the air briefly at speed…. A bit too fast actually, I kinda need to stop and-

"2.94 seconds!"

While that's all well and good unfortunately I've… severely underestimated the power that Mei cranked these cannons up to as I skid to a stop and… immediately fall over from a lack of balance? What? But I shouldn't be having any issues? Before I can figure out why I'm literally falling over my own feet something GRABBED me and pulled me up to look Aizawa in the face. Aizawa's very much glaring face as his surprisingly flexible scarf dragged me towards him.

"Could you tell me what exactly you were doing there?" Aizawa almost growled quietly, he very much looked like he was resisting the urge to use his Quirk to enhance the glare. "I've seen your test video, you have other ways of doing that than damaging yourself."

At that I blinked…. And slowly looked down at my feet to see that indeed, the front sections of them are actually bent. I must have released a limiter to try and stop Mei's cannon force… or the cannons had enough force that if I didn't make my feet so sturdy they would have torn off of the legs.

"Uhm… would you believe It was a rational deception?" I asked with a shaky and hesitant grin on my face. I gulped as Aizawa's glare only seemed to intensify at that. "T-that and I wanted to test those out in a safe environment. I p-plan to adjust them-"

"If you want to test those in the future, book time in one of the practise grounds." Aizawa grumbled. "We already have one person who hurts themselves with their Quirk. No-one is going to be there to save you if you damage yourself mid rescue because you were messing around with some gadget." There's a brief pause… and Aizawa thankfully has the scarf put me down on the heels of my feet so I can stand. "You have a minute to fix them – using your own Quirk."

I sighed even as Aizwa walked back towards the race track, and focused. That… could have gone a lot better. But at the least he didn't just expel me on the spot.

* * *

Aizawa Shota had quite a few things he disliked. Not getting to use his sleeping bag, things that disturbed his cats, and the fact that would be heroes with non-physical Quirks are discriminated against in the exams included. But the one thing he disliked above all else was students with zero potential. Those students like Midoriya who couldn't use their Quirk without taking themselves out of the fight… or those like Ferros who feel they need to try and show off and injure themselves when they have better alternatives.

In a way Ferros was worse than Midoriya in that regard. Midoriya was limited by his Quirk, but Ferros acted like he was invincible just because he knew things about the future.

Oh yes, he knew. Principal Nedzu had insisted on discussing it with him over a cup of tea the weekend before. Not just about Ferros, but other students that could have issues. Midoriya and his Quirk. Bakugou's attitude. The fact that for all his talk of rationality his test still didn't account for Hagakure and her invisibility Quirk. For her, Ferros and others like them, he had been focusing on a different test entirely for them. To see how they adjusted to the tests, and how they might try to use their Quirk to their advantage.

And Ferros' actions had very nearly had him fail the boy on the spot.

He sighed as he watched Midoriya cross the line at last – having not used his Quirk at all of course – and started to turn back around… only to stop. A number of students were looking over not at Bakugou and Midoriya but…

Aizawa slowly turned to follow their gaze, and spotted Ferros. The young man with dark brown hair and green eyes wasn't all that unusual by Japan's standards usually, but the silver circuit lines that covered his face was enough to make Aizawa pause. His gaze traveled downwards… and there he saw Ferros hands seem to pause in mid-motion towards the feet, slowly turning as the twisted metal of the feet started to twist themselves back into shape.

And Aizawa could already feel the grin starting to cross his face. He'd left the implied threat of expulsion hang in the air from what he had said before with the boy… but he had never actually planned on doing so. He had done it as a rational deception. To push Ferros to not push his body, but his Quirk. To push it in a way that no record said he had ever tried.

It seemed this student had potential after all.

* * *

The next test up was a simple one, grip tests. But given what Aizawa had told me before, it had actually made me consider… really, with what I had been practising over the years, I had mostly used my Quirk for fine detail work with my arm and any little upgrades Mei wanted to suggest putting in. Oh sure, there was brute forcing it like I did at the exam, but that could lead to issues in its own right, I rarely took off all the limits for that reason – I don't want to keep literally breaking my arm.

So, for most people, that'd mean that they'd just use the above-average strength of the metal arms to grip it.

"…. 200?" Another guy with impressive muscles and… puffy lips asked as he tilted his head. "I mean, it's not bad but… aren't those arms of yours stronger?"

I grinned at that… and let go of the reader…. Which only dropped down about 50 kilograms as I quickly clenched my hand again, the reader floating in mid-air. "My arms aren't my Quirk." I admitted with a shrug. "If I wanted I could go past my near-human limits on them and put everyone else to shame… but instead I wanted to see how much force I could push in from my own Quirk after fixing my foot earlier. My Quirk is Technopathy… I can manipulate machinery."

And that just had the puffy lipped guy nod in understanding "So why not just… get the machine to say what you want it to say?" He asked.

"Because I figure I get one chance to do that before Aizawa-sensei stops allowing it." I admitted with a slight slump. "I figure it's good enough. What did you get?

"Just a bit more – but that's how my Quirk works, makes me five times as strong." The young man admitted, letting out a yawn as he did. Still, 300 kilograms is impressive on its own. "Name's Rikido Sato by the way."

"Ferros Edward! But that's really interesting, so you can just… activate the strength aspect?" I asked as a grin slowly spread across my face.

Sato shook his head. "Nah, I need to have some sugar first. I wish it was that simple." He admitted with a laugh. "It'd save me on sweets!"

"Oh I don't know about that." I admitted as I rubbed the back of my head. "Give me a piece of chocolate and I'll probably eat it in a heartbeat." Not that mum had been all too happy to see that I had a case of chocoholism to rival few others. It wasn't a full addiction – and I'm not just saying that, I swear!

Of course, the two of us discussing the finer points of sweets was soon interrupted by a six armed student shattering out records. Seriously, 540 kilograms?

* * *

The third event was simple enough. Standing long jump.

… except I had already used the air cannons. And I'm not using them again until I can recalibrate them myself. Maybe something more of an air stream than an air burst, but I digress. Unfortunately while you have stuff like Rikido using his sugar powers to jump further than normal or a girl with a black ponytail making a freaking trampoline to get her- MOMO! Yaoyorozu Momo, that's it. Anyway, while they made their was pretty easily, it wasn't exactly my strong suit… I didn't do that much better than Rikido as a result, but at the same time it's still better than the poor invisible girl, who ended up getting worse than Midoriya…. or Kirishima whose Quirk seemed to make him LESS aerodynamic.

Fortunately, side to side jumps are easier. While the purple ball flinging little dude of the class who… I don't know why but I felt a bit annoyed just looking at him. Anyway, while his idea of using his balls to bounce back and forth was smart, others had to improvise. One blond haired guy was using his tail to jump from side to side, while six arms was doing a pretty good gorilla impersonation with his extra arms being lengthened out and used as springs.

For me I had a simple solution. Not the simplest – still working on that – but a simple one. When it was my turn, I sighed… and released the limiters in my legs up to it's second level, starting to leap back and forth faster and faster as I slowly allowed more and more of the potential power in those legs out… and only stopping when the robot called for it. I sighed as I did, glad I couldn't hear any creaking or groans after that and walked off to the side as another blond with a black lightning streak in his hair started to jump… and not doing anything Quirk wise.

"Magnifique technique with your jumping." I will fully admit to having jumped at the sudden sound of a voice speaking French, a blond haired guy with a face that… well, it seemed a little… off? Somehow? "But it does not put any physical strain on you… why didn't you do something as showy as moi when you did the long jump?~*"

… oooh, and that faux French, that belt, this guy seemed VERY familiar. Still, I guess it can't hurt. "Well, you know how you said earlier your laser hurts your tummy?" I asked. "It's the same with me letting my legs or arms use more power. The more power I let them use, the more strain. Even pushing with my Quirk instead of my limits means that they'll break faster." I shrugged as I said that, even as I instinctually flexed my fist. "I just try to use my Quirk to take advantage of it."

The blonde hums to himself and nods. "Not all of us can have such an easy to consider Quirk as moi." He noted.

And yet as he walked off… I don't know, something told me there was more to what he was saying. I need to figure out why though…

* * *

The fifth event… was the ball toss. Now the bar was set pretty high already by Bakugou's shot earlier, and then little miss floaty manages to one up that and I think any other test Aizawa-sensei is going to manage to run in the future.

"To infinity and beyond indeed." I remarked.

Some of the nearby students looked at me a bit oddly… but it was the lightning haired wonder who surprised me. "Buzz Lightyear's words are fitting indeed right now… but it's a bit of an old reference isn't it?" He asked with a slight chuckle.

You're the one who knows the reference by name! Calm down Edward… "My mum always thought that just because it's new, doesn't mean it outshines the old stuff." I replied with a smile.

A smile that was soon blown off of my face as any response from the lightning haired wonder was drowned out by the TRIPLE burst of what I think is a sonic boom in the air. That was enough to shock everyone else into silence… even as I realized that this was a scene I remembered. Shit, Bakugou is about to-

"What the hell Deku?!"

Urgh, nevermind. Still, while there's nothing I can do right away as Aizawa restrained Bakugou with… that awesome Quirk honestly, I hung back a bit… and waited for Bakugou to wander backwards as he glared angrily at Izuku. Right… this probably won't work but… I need to try at least mitigate his anger. I sighed as I walked up next to him.

"Fuck off." Bakugou growled.

I simply snorted in response. "After seeing you do that? No." I pointed out bluntly, even as I walked around and stared him in the face and… ah, sparks. Literal sparks from his hand. Better keep this short. "I don't know what your deal with Midoriya is. I don't even know the kid and I don't know you."

Bakugou's glare only seemed to grow stronger and I'm betting it's only Aizawa being nearby that's stopped him from making an explosion in anger. Better cut to the chase.

"Point is this. What have you got to be jealous about if Midoriya has to break his finger just to get the same results as you?" I grumbled out… before pointedly moving away.

"Oi! You're just gonna say that and walk off?" Bakugou growled out… but not too loudly I noticed. Still, I ignored him and kept walking… towards a whistling Kirishima, Ashido standing nearby.

"Man, I don't know what you said there… but do you think it was a good idea to piss off Bakugou more than he seems to be already?" Kirishima asked as he tilted his head. "He doesn't seem the type to live and let live."

"What DID you say to him anyway?" Ashido added.

"Just something I felt I needed to say." I admitted. It's only a little thing, but I just need to hope that it makes a difference.

"Maybe think twice before you do that to him next time." Ashido half joked as she glanced over at Bakugou cautiously.

It wasn't long after that where I was called up… and seeing as I don't have the rail gun that Mei designed at one point which I'm… REALLY happy I vetoed now, I can still show off a bit. Given what I managed to pull off earlier with my foot and the little test with the gripper…. I could be able to put a bit more force than my normal standard limit just by using my technomancy. I wound up for the pitch…. Focused on my left arm – old handiness dies hard – and with a grunt, let the ball FLY!... about all of 200 metres. Still better than double of what I can usually do though.

That being said I soon had to watch as one of the others who… had the head of a black bird LITERALLY summoned his shadow forward and got HIM to throw the ball. Goddamnit, so many Jojo or Persona references I could make, but nobody here would get it!

…

Well, Kirishima _might_ get the Jojos reference….

* * *

Sixth event was the toe touch. Nothing really big happened there, while those like the multi armed marvel – Shoji, if what I overheard was correct - basically stole the show by just duplicating his arms to touch his toes over and over again. There's literally nothing we can do to match that.

Upper Body Strength on the other hand is where some of us got to shine a bit more… but it was also making me aware of one problem with the tests, and a further indicator to me that Aizawa – Aizawa-sensei, sorry – had other ways of judging people rather than seeing the results. Otherwise how would the invisibility girl manage to get past Midoriya? Or Lightning Hair guy – none of the tests so far had been good for that. Still, I'm not going to try and go down that rabbit hole. Aizawa-sensei had already shown me that he didn't like being messed around with, I'm not going to mess with others tests.

But yes, upper body strength. A machine was set up for us to pull at with all our might, and the more force we could produce, the more it would go to the machine. Again, I decided to try and actually… well, use my QUIRK on this one instead of removing limiters. But it was all the same people who did well at the grip test. Rikido. Kirishima. Shoji. All physical affecting Quirks. Not that some of them needed those, as one of the girls, with headphone jacks for her earlobes, put a whole new definition to upper body strength when adding therm in to improve her lifting power.

… and the endurance running was like revisiting the 50 metre dash again. I'm starting to see just why Aizawa-sensei sees things as so… illogical. And even so, everyone else was running lower on energy because I'm used to my arms and legs being like this. Iida was my biggest competition throughout, and it's only because even I have a limit that I didn't keep up with him the whole I only had my Quirk and I didn't have my mostly tireless metal legs to run me along - at beast my legs were 75% metal if not more - I'd never have done so well. I might have done better at the grip and upper body tests, but nothing else.

It… it bothered me.

* * *

"Also I was lying about expelling someone."

And there we go, the reaction to the quiet but not actually a lie. Again, one of those oddities that the old world doesn't see much in that everyone cried out in shock at once… aside from Yarouyazu. And Aizawa-sensei just has that slightly creepy grin on his face as he continued.

"It was a rational deception to bring out the best of your skills- yes Ferros?"

Ok, I couldn't help but stick my hand up. This IS a school still. "Is that why you didn't spend time making specific tests for those of us whose Quirk wasn't suited for the test?" I asked.

Aizawa-sensei stared at me for a moment… and his smile became more subdued than before. "Think of it as a lesson. Sometimes your Quirk doesn't fit the situation you find yourself in. You have to use your Quirk and what you have to make it work."

Murmurs go around the crowd at that, but I just sighed a bit. Still, the results soon came up and showed I'm at the number ten spot… I'm pretty sure I displaced Uraraka there, but now I get to remind myself of all the names. Maybe now I can figure out who I replaced in the class. Ok… oh right, bird boy is Tokoyami… lightning hair is Kaminari… Todoroki must be the chilly guy... most of these names seem familiar, but only vaguely… and whoever I replaced in Class 1-A was so background that this board looks… right to me.

And yet most people look relatively happy. Should I be worrying about this so much? I don't know… and that's what really worries me.

* * *

Soon enough we headed back to the classroom, all bar Izuku who headed for Recovery Girl's office. What had started as murmurs of the unconventional test had erupted into excited chatter as we mulled about as we left the class.

"Geez, that's just one teacher!" Ashido noted, leaning against the wall. "Who knows what the rest of them are going to be like?"

"The Principal is a nice enough guy." I insisted as I simply stood next to the door.. "I've met him before – he's a friend of my mum. So long as you don't mind long talks over tea…"

"You think the other teachers will be that… intense?" Kirishma asked, standing up himself.

I blinked… even as I tried to remember. "Don't think so. I think we just got stuck with the one teacher who gets down to business."

"Think we got the most intense class?" Sero queried as he leaned back in a more relaxed pose "I mean between him and Bakugou…"

I chuckled at that. "Oh, maybe in the hero course – I hope not, Monoma will never let me hear the end of it, he's in class 1-B. But as for the whole school…" I trailed off and simply cupped my ear with my hand… before the dull sound of an explosion sounded out. "That would be my cousin going overboard on her first day."

The three looked at each other… and then back. "She can't be that bad compared to Bakugou can she?" Ashido asked

"Personality? No." I insisted. "… but she's the one who put in the air cannons in my feet at that power level."

The understanding notes of agreement just make me sigh all the deeper. Not helped by the fact I could, if I focused, hear the teacher yelling at my laughing cousin from here.

* * *

Unseen by any eyes on the ground at U.A., or even the robots below, a small camera seemed to float in mid-air. The daytime sky showed itself on a screen, even as several screens around that screen showed the various heroes in training. One by one, each filled with a different shot of a single student… Edward Ferros.

"Well well. It seems that the Tarantulus experiment produced results after all."

Barely shown thanks to the light of the screens, the mouth of the one watching the screens turned into a big, toothy grin.


	8. Chapter 8

Another day, another walk towards U.A. And as a result, not just the first day of classes but a class with All Might himself. Oh yes, I remember that class. I remember a lot of the bigger, flashier moments… but at this point that's about it. I mean, just one year in and I mistook a completely different hero for Kamui Woods, who only debuted a few years ago now! And the worst part is… part of me doesn't want to remember too well because of just who has become part of my life. I've spent years getting to know Neito and Mei, now. I know that Neito will do just about anything for a well-made French style meal, and he goes crazy for crepes. I know Mei is as much of an engineering maniac as I remember her to be, but she's also got an entire shelf full of books about famous inventors' lives and more.

To put it simply, the more of this life I live, the harder it becomes for me to confront the reality that I once saw it only through the viewpoint of a manga and anime. Still as we walk along I notice someone else waving up ahead… and Neito waved back? Huh, wait, red hair, ponytail… oh, it's hand girl from the exam. I know I should know her name, but for the life of me I can't remember it. "Edward, Mei, this is Kendo Itsuka from 1-B, Kendo-san, this is Ferros Edward and Hatsume Mei." Neito noted with a smile as we approached her.

"Nice to meet you Hatsume-san. And good to see you ended up passing after all Ferros-san." Kendo noted with a smile.

I would have groaned at that but I couldn't help but smile as Neito spoke back up. "I didn't know you came this way usually Kendo-san." He inquired… before letting his smile grow a little sly. "You're not follo-" And before he can continue Mei and I both give him a simultaneous soft chop to the back of the neck. "Ok ok! It was just a joke."

Kendo blinked a bit. "Uh… no, I was just trying out a different route today." She noted. "But… what was that? I know Monoma-san can be a bit excessive sometimes…"

"Neito's gotten a lot better at it, but he does tend to rant sometimes." Mei remarked with a grin. "He's been around Edward and I so long that we try to watch out for him and give him a signal to let him know when he's about to dig his own grave."

Neito slowly rubbed the back of his neck out of embarrassment – it certainly couldn't be soreness. "I still don't know when we agreed that the neck chop was the signal." He grumbled though his tone made it clear he wasn't really agitated.

"Since we figured out that visual signals didn't work and I was trying to stop Mei from mounting spotlights on me to get your attention." I reminisced.

Kendo looked at me, and then to Mei slowly. "Really?" Kendo asked incredulously.

"It's not that hard! The only issue was sorting out the power channelling, and I was far younger back then! Making a baby like that would be easy!" Mei insisted

At that I sharply turned my head and gave Mei a flat look. "No. After the Air Cannons ended up bending my feet almost to 45 degree angles I'm letting your teachers look over your blueprints first."

"Oooh, that could be fun!" Mei remarked, sparkles in her eyes again. "Power Loader-sensei already says that I have potential!"

… potential for greatness, or potential to blow up the school? "I mean, if this route's no slower… We walk to U.A. together already, having someone sane to talk to would be nice." I said.

Kendo blinked. "What do you mean by that?" She asked carefully

"Neito rants." I began

"Mei doesn't know the meaning of restraint." Neito continued

"And you've probably seen Edward's hero complex already." Mei finished

I gave her a look. "We're aiming to be heroes aside from you. How is that an issue again?" I asked.

"You got involved with every case of bullying you could find in primary and middle school." Neito noted.

Kendo giggled. "Plus you didn't need to go so… over the top with that robot during the exam. Speeding yourself up would have done the job." She noted.

"Everyone's a critic." I grumbled.

Still… Kendo is a nice person. I could think of worse routes to be intersecting with. Like Bakugou's.

* * *

And then came the classes of the day. And it's here where I admit that 10 years means all I remember is home room and like… one or two classes. Big event ones. And even then, I'm only sure of one of them that I've been saving for. So when the first class happens to be English with Present Mic, it was… mostly uneventful. While I'm a native English speaker, it just lets me point out if I notice any issues… besides, language is only one part of English, there's also literature and history, and seeing general English history from a Japanese perspective is always interesting to me.

No, for me the interesting part was the teacher that came in afterwards – Japanese system and all that. It was someone who came in with not the sound of footsteps… but the sound of metal touching against the floor. Compared to Present Mic's 'ordinary person but with a stereo attached to his neck' design, this was a hero recognizable to me – and by the looks of his excited form, Izuku as well – immediately. Although probably for entirely different reasons. After all, I doubt Izuku looks up to Ectoplasm as an example of a hero with artificial limbs. For most heroes, an injury like that is a career ender… but Ectoplasm insisted on having specialized prosthetics made for him and kept going.

It especially didn't hurt that compared to Present Mic being very much trying to get the class involved, Ectoplasm was very… personal. He'd run us through a lesson and how things are supposed to work… and then after he had, he'd assign us a few problems to run through, either through the book or just by himself. That's not the cool part. The cool part was that after he did that he'd split himself up into a number of clones who'd go around the class, having one on one talks with students if they looked like they were having trouble! I will admit to more than a little awe at the sight really, if only because… well, even in this world teachers sometimes weren't able to give the sort of instruction individually to each student. But with Ectoplasm he'd be able to personally point others towards what they might have gotten wrong, to help correct them.

"Ferros-san. Is something the matter?" Ectoplasm questioned

… but that also meant that Ectoplasm could see me gawking at his use of his Quirk.

"Uh, no Ectoplasm-sensei." I remarked. "Just… sorta hit me how good your Quirk is for teaching."

Ectoplasm - or the clone I was talking to at least – tilted his head slightly. "Oh? That's not something most students notice." He remarked with a little mirth. "I just want to ensure you all become the best heroes you can be. If it means spending time one on one with each of my students if they have problems, then I consider it only appropriate as a hero and a teacher."

I blinked at that before letting my open-mouthed expression change into a smile, and then… well, dove back into the math work. This is where things get slightly more difficult for me – sure, back home I had studied algebra… in high school. It had been 7 years since then before I came here, and 10 more after that where I hadn't really had to judge angles all that much due to my quirk just asking for measurements when it comes to making objects. So, for once, this was actually school work that was… slightly challenging.

What? Old stuff or not, I still have the mind of an adult in here.

* * *

As we came towards the end of the class, the bell rang for lunch. As we got up to leave, Ectoplasm's clones started to disperse… aside from one near me who leaned over.

"Stay back. I want to discuss something with you."

I freeze slightly at that but listen, even as I notice while the others leave Aoyama hasn't left his desk. In fact he's pulling something out of his bag – a bento box by the looks of things. Still, I make my way up towards Ectoplasm as he waits at the front desk. "What did you want to talk about Ectoplasm-sensei?" I asked

Ectoplasm glanced over at Aoyama and sighed. "I suppose this is well enough." Ectoplasm remarked, before he turned his head back towards me. "How are you finding the school grounds treating your augmentations?" Wait what? "I thought it would be best for me to ask given my own situation. I couldn't tell you how many times my prosthetic legs used to get stuck in the floor here." And he started to chuckle at that! This is surreal.

"Um… no, I'm good so far Sensei." I admitted. "My feet aren't just prosthetics, but full on cybernetics." To demonstrate I brought up one of my arms and slowly moved it, moving it a full 360 degrees as I did, flexing my fingers too. "But when I hear of heroes on the news I'd always listen harder when it was you."

Ectoplasm smiled at that… I think. "It means a lot to hear that from you. I hear similar things from children all the time when I visit hospitals for the sake of charity work or a follow up. But sadly, very few people who get into situations like ours get the opportunity to still be a hero." He remarked, before looking over at Aoyama. "You both are in a situation few in your positions manage. I hope to see great things from you." And with that, he walked out of the classroom with a nod.

I blinked as he left… but sighed and stretched. Time to try out lunch here. "Aoyama, you wanna come with for lunch?" I asked "It seems like it'd be pretty lonely in here."

"Merci~" Aoyama remarked. "But I'm afraid that the food here just wouldn't be suitable for my palette~ "

Something about his ever present smile seems… off, but I can't place it. Maybe it's something my brain is trying to tell me I should remember about him? Couldn't say right now, but it might be something I should follow up on. Either way, onward to the cafeteria!

Lunch IS something I've been looking forward to, and for once it's not from memory. Lunch Rush is a lesser known hero to some… but only in the Pro Hero world, as Lunch Rush is the equivalent of Jamie Oliver here. A great chef who loves to make new recipes that cut down on the fat content and the like. It also helps that the U.A. application forms require a dietary form to be filled out. For me it means that along with my white rice I have an extra serving of meat – chicken today it seemed.

Of course, soon after getting away from the serving line, I looked around. Frankly I know a few restaurants that are done up worse than the U.A. cafeteria, they clearly had the wellbeing of their students in mind when setting it all up. But it's not long as I move about that I spot a bunch of my classmates already in a couple of booths. Kirishima is currently sitting with Kaminari and… they both seem to be attempting to talk to Bakugou. Good luck with that you two, although Kaminari does look like he regrets this decision. Jirou – the earphone jack girl – is sitting with a frog-esque girl from class – Tsuyu Asui, although she's already asked people to call her Tsu which IS something I remember, as well as Yaoyorozu. There're even some groups I don't recognize but are seeming familiar enough that I'd bet they're from 1-B, like a guy who looks like a living rock formation, another with what looks to be a centipede head, as well as two girls, one black haired and one with grey… and not one of them is talking. Weird.

"Hey, Ferros-san!"

I turn my head at that and almost stumble as Ashido Mina was suddenly THERE. "H-hello Ashido-san." I said as I blushed. The bright pink out of nowhere shocked me alright? She's still carrying her tray too, with some natto of all things added to it… "You not got a place to sit yet?"

Ashido shrugged. "Welll I was going to sit with the others, but Kaminari and Kirishima… well, let's just say I don't think their idea is going to work that way." She noted. "Like, I get wanting to make friends with someone stubborn, but just chatting with Bakugou brute force?"

I nodded at that. "And so you're looking for Sero too?" I added as I started to walk, still looking around

"He does kinda seem to be more… safe as an option." Mina admitted as she walked with me.

Ah! "There he is! Seems like I'm not the only one who recognized a face from the exam!" I noted as we walked over to a table which was already decently populated. Neito was there with a fairly average meal of his own – given his Quirk he has no special requirements – along with Itsuka and Sero who had no obvious changes of their own. Neito looked up and grinned, as he lifted-

Oh goddamnit. "You didn't have to buy me a soft drink can on the first day here Neito!" I remarked, even as I pulled into the booth and grabbed the can from my blond haired best friend whose smile was far too innocent for his own good.

"Oh it wasn't a problem Edward. I saw they had your favorite diet cola and I just couldn't help myself." Monoma insisted with all the subtlety of All Might's costume's.

"Mum's already looking into French Soft Drinks for the long term." I deadpanned. "You can stop trying to buy me off."

Neito just grinned at that and Kendo just sighed while Mina sat in the booth beside me. "You're the one who exposed me to them in the first place." He insisted.

"French… soft drinks?" Sero asked.

I slumped my head down at that. "I'm half British as well as Japanese… and my mum was a big hero in the British system. She happened to have connections with the European Hero system, and as a result whenever there's a big event she pulls a few favours to get access to something like a genuine Itallian made piece of art for my uncle… or Orangina drinks that tend to be really popular in France every second birthday or so." Which was a bit of a shock. I mean, yes, I expected some of the bigger brands to probably exist, maybe slightly altered. But Orangina is a rather obscure drink outside of French countries and can be hard to get elsewhere – speaking from remembered experience back in the original life. "And Neito happens to have a taste for it… like anything else French."

"What can I say, they just do things to my taste." Neito insisted, a slight dramatic gesture of his chopsticks before he goes back to his white rice.

Sero tilted his head. "What makes it any different from-"

"Don't finish the question. Trust me." I groaned.

Neito chuckled with a slight nervous tone. "I'm not **that** bad – am I?"

I simply lifted my hand up at that and chopped at the air to answer my question, causing Kendo to chuckle slightly.

"You know these two Ferros-kun?" Ashido asked.

"Ah, right." I lifted my head up at that. "I suppose Sero already knows, but Ashido Mina, this is Kendo Itsuka-" Who waves with a smile. "-and Monoma Neito… who's my best friend. They're both from 1-B"

Monoma grinned and nodded. "Competition basically." He joked.

"Kendo-san, Neito, these are Sero Hanta and Ashido Mina, my classmates from 1-A." I continued.

Sero chuckled and rubbed his chin. "Yeah, Itsuka-san spotted me and waved me over. Wanted to check up after the exam and saving you." Sero noted.

"What is it with people bringing that up today." I muttered, which caused Neito to start chuckling, the traitor.

"Oh, is this why you let him call you Edward?" Ashido asked.

I raised an eyebrow. "Well… I more used that as an excuse actually." I admitted as I rubbed the back of my neck.

Neito sighed dramatically. "What he means is that Edward's never been too comfortable getting used to Japanese naming conventions. He's been like that for as long as I've known him, and he'll find the first excuse he can to let people call him by his first name." He announced with a melodramatic tone. "Oh how we weep for poor-"

"I get it." I groaned…. Even as Ashido, Kendo and Sero laughed a bit.

"Well I don't really get it… but I can do that!" Mina noted. "Edward-kun kinda rolls off the tongue a bit better than Ferros-kun does."

"About that." Kendo said. "You're calling him kun already? I didn't know you guys knew each other that well."

I blinked a bit at that before starting to blush. Shit. Honorifics, my one language weakness.

Mina just smiled. "Oh, I don't do it because I know him – I only met Edward-kun yesterday." She admitted. "But I like to make friends, and if people want to try and make the effort back, why shouldn't I treat them like that?"

I slowly looked at Mina. "That's… actually really nice. Always thinking the best of people." I commented.

"Well, it's that and the only nickname I could think of otherwise is Ferrossan." Mina added with a giggle, soon joined by a burst of laughter by Monoma as I hung my head deeper. Ferrossan. Ferros and Ossan – or Old Man Ferros. Stupid naming puns.

* * *

And after lunch we headed back for the class we had perhaps been looking forward to the most all day. The class that defined why we were here.

" _ **I AM-"**_

Hero Basic Training.

" _ **COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!"**_

Now. I want you to consider for a moment how you might react if, say, you got to meet a celebrity. Me? I've always been at least a little nervous around them. Now, how would you react if you met Superman? That sort of tension, anxiety and awe would be multiplied at least a hundred-fold. Well, standing in front of us right now was All Might, Symbol of Peace. Celebrity and Superhero, THE Hero by which all other heroes are judged the world over.

To say I was just a bit awestruck would be a vast understatement all in all. The outfit – Silver Age by Izuku's summation – was almost as distinctive in this world as Superman's S and underwear on the outside, as Captain America's shield, as so many heroes of the comics from the other world – in fact many comics that still existed had to try and compete with the real life tales of All Might.

"I teach Hero Basic Training. This is the class that will mould you all in different ways to learn the basics of becoming a hero. As part of the hero course this is a big part of your studies." All Might declared as he posed… before moving to face us with his arm outstretched, a sign with the word 'Battle!' on it. As from WHERE he got it from… you've got me there. He never reached behind him, but we couldn't see it on his chest before. Did he somehow pull off hiding it between his biceps? Or is he just that fast that I didn't spot it? "No time for delays, this is today's exercise! Battle training! And to pull that off, you'll need these!" Ok, WHERE did he get that button from? I didn't even look away, he didn't reach for anything – did he hide it up his sleeve? But something is sliding out of the walls and – those are cases. Cases that are VERY familiar. Cases that contain-!

" **Costumes!"**

Oh. Fuck. Yes.

* * *

One might think that just because I have my cybernetics, I don't really need a costume. To them I'd point out that you could say the same think about Aoyama or Bakugou, but both of their suits are designed with extra function in mind. That and I had been drawing up concepts for a hero costume since I learned that my uncle owned a support company. My drawing isn't fantastic by any means, but it gives me a basis for each of my suits. Yes, suits. I have a few designs in mind and I only submitted one of them to the company. And those designs weren't easy, either. One would think I'd just repurpose a design from a Kamen Rider or some other hero like them but… I like a lot of what is considered older media here. Super Robots, Shonen, well done shows about robots in disguise… and that's just what's relevant.

And the company had definitely delivered on what I wanted. My feet had slid into some heavy-duty black boots with a red metallic ring at the top of them, not heavy ones but ones that could provide a decent level of defence before hitting the metal - leading into a flexible black cloth for the main undersuit -although with a decent amount of padding across my body.

The area around my chest had thicker red lined pieces attached to it, looking almost like pectorals and my abdominal muscles. This was armouring for my chest, with a less noticeable layer of padding to the back, designed to make it that the largest squishy target on me – my body – was well protected. This policy extended to the smaller shoulder pads on the costume… but less the fact that I had put on gloves over my hands and noticeable red metallic cylinders around my forearms, more reminiscent of a mecha than anything.

Of course, there was only so far before I added some Rider staples. A red belt around the waist with what seemed to be a white jewel at its centre, with a drill piece and a dart piece with wire extending from it hanging to my left and right respectively. Around my neck was a white scarf which was entirely there for style points and nothing else. On my head is a large helmet, full head encasing, stylized like a Grasshopper with the mandible design being on the mouth plate with red lining – and a inbuilt air filtration system. In addition there are white lenses in the helmet designed to look like insectoid eyes, and two antennae sticking out towards the top of the front… which are functional and actually let me pick up on nearby radio signals.

Or in other words, I look like if someone fused the designs of several classic rider designs together with a mecha and painted it black, red and white.

"Whoa, that's a bit over the top for a hero costume isn't it?" Kaminari asked, dressed in a rather street styled look.

Kirishima – whose outfit had him going topless – just grinned as he punched into his palm. "Dude, don't you know what he's doing? It's a homage costume isn't it?" He asked.

I nodded at that. "There aren't that many cyborg heroes out there so… I kinda focused a bit on Kamen Rider as a kid." I noted as we walked, scratching the back of my… helmet.

"Isn't that the really old and cheesy TV show?" Jiro Kyoka questioned. "Why go for a fictional hero like that?"

Kirishima shook his head. "Nah, I get it." Kirishima insisted before giving me a thumbs up. "You see how manly the Riders are, and you want to aspire to bring that icon of justice into the real world, right?"

I blinked as I looked at Kirishima and for a moment I see a much older man, red spiked hair and a powerful look on his face. That's right – he wants to be the new Crimson Riot doesn't he? "Something like that. It just felt… right." I admitted.

Jiro shrugged. "Fair enough. Just seems a bit over the top." She noted… before, as we emerged, double taking. "I take that back, Aoyama's got the most over the top one, then Iida. You're third."

"I dunno." Kaminari noted. "Bakugou's-"He cut himself off as Kirishima tapped him on the shoulder and pointed forward. Pointing directly at Bakugou who had turned his head slightly back. But he didn't seem to be looking at Kaminari to me… but at me. Why?

It wasn't long after that where All Might started splitting us up into teams for the exercise, a capture mission between heroes and villains. Team A was Izuku and Ochako who looked nervous and excited respectively to be teamed up. Team B was Todoroki in…

… someone needs to tell him how dumb his initial costume looks and fast. There's trying to stick it to Endeavour and then there's going overboard.

Anyway, Todoroki and Shoji, meaning there was basically no reaction from the two most stoic members of class. Team C was Yaroyozu and Mineta who… sweet crap he's not even disguising his ogling. Note to self, consider getting Bakugou to try and deal with him. Goodness knows that Team D is going to be more Iida TRYING to control Bakugou's temper. Team E was the ever-showy Aoyama and Mina whose costume was flashy but- oh, wait, there's something with her shoes, I remember something about that! Ok, Kaminari and Jiro still get the prize for least helpful costumes beyond blending in – they're Team G. Sato and I are paired up as Team F while Team H had an interesting animal theme in Asui and Tokoyami.

Ojiro and Hagakure (who was disqualified from the practicality competition for lacking a costume at all) were Team I(nvisible if you ask me). Finally, it was Sero and Kirishima for Team J who I really hope I don't have to face. Oh, Sato and Kirishima could probably match one another, but Sero seems designed for capture missions like this and until I recalibrate the air cannons, I can't use those to avoid his tape.

* * *

A **fucking** hero and villain exercise. A battle exercise where he got to fight _Deku_ of all people.

If you had asked Bakugou Katsuki what he'd like to do the most yesterday, this would have probably ranked high on his list. That bastard Ferros was next up on the list afterwards. But despite what some people might think, Katsuki wasn't a simple bully or thug. He wasn't some moron who couldn't think. He preferred to use his instincts in a fight to fight to his fullest. If he had to think, it meant the enemy forced him to. Every action had a reason for it.

And that's why he was so fucking pissed off at Deku.

Oh sure, he hadn't exactly been nice to Deku. There was a reason for it. He didn't need some Quirkless guy dragging him down, or risking getting hurt because he wanted to follow after the new #1 hero's shadow. If you're Quirkless then you can't become a hero. It's too damn risky. He'd done everything to try and drive Deku away from it… well, not for that reason. Oh, it was a good justification but like hell he was going to lie about not really considering it until after the Sludge Villain incident. Bakugou was angry, determined, strong and above all else honest. In his own way.

Which was what _**really**_ pissed him off about Deku's deception at first. The fact that apparently the guy he had been bullying for being weak. For being helpless. For being Quirkless… wasn't. He had a powerful Quirk, one that matched or could probably even outdo his own at close range. That he had hidden so much power from Katsuki pissed him off.

And that would be it had Ferros' words.

" _What have you got to be jealous about if Midoriya has to break his finger just to get the same results as you?"_

He'd never say this, but what that asshole had said had a point. Deku's Quirk WAS strong. Stronger than most heroes he had seen. And he wanted to know just how strong and just how far Deku could push it. He NEEDED to know. Was the weakling stronger than him? He didn't know, he COULDN'T know without checking.

Was he the one left in the shadow all along, not Deku?

* * *

To say that the fight between Izuku and Bakugou was intense would be an understatement. My memory of the events might be cloudy, but this seemed… more intense. At moments it seemed like Bakugou was going all out. Was that because I was seeing them for real, or had something changed thanks to what I said? I don't know. That's the thing about changing things like I do. When you're reincarnated with ten years between the time you land and the time you know, the details aren't so clear. So I just don't know. I _can_ say that I was somewhat relieved when All Might told us he had another building set up just in case we got too enthusiastic though.

And then Todoroki showed that as much of a bastard Endeavour was, he got results. Which is as much credit as I'm giving the bastard ever as no amount of results is worth what I can remember about Todoroki's backstory. Especially what gave him his burn on his face.

It meant that it wasn't until the last drawing that we got to see some action. Team G was to be the heroes in this case and Team F was to be the villains. To put it simply, it meant that Sato and I would be trying to defend the objective from Mina and Aoyama. As Sato and I made our way into the building I slowly hummed. "This is both good and bad for us." I admitted. "Aoyama's long range is useful but limited indoors."

Sato nodded at that. "Yeah, I figured that much. But Mina… she seems to have that sliding Quirk right? Or acid or whatever it was. That means that if they want, they could get really tricky with what they want to do. We might never see them coming." He noted… before he idly opened one of the pockets on his suit and looked down. "And it doesn't help that my Quirk isn't great to keep on long term. If they surprise us-"

"They won't, not unless they've done some specific work to this building." I insisted. "In the meantime, we need to put as much as we can against the door as possible. Make it as hard as possible for Aoyama to blast his way in the front."

"Eh? Sure, but what do you mean by 'specific work'?" Sato asked, even as he started moving a barrel – one of the items that in Team A and D's match had been cleaned away – to block the door.

I grinned behind the helmet. "Let's just say that I might not be all there to start." I insisted. "My Quirk doesn't just work with my cybernetics after all." Not that it's too easy, but after that I lean myself back against a pillar as I stand, close my eyes… and focus. I can feel the wires in this building. None of the usual wires an office building would have for ethernet connections or the like, but electrical wires are still there, wires that let me trace along them to find the security system. While I couldn't hack the robots during the original exam due to them being extremely complicated in build, I hadn't manually used my computer for years at this point. Every evening on there was a little exercise in strengthening my Quirk.

So, while going for a complicated robotic system might not work… a standard Security system that didn't have to worry about AI interfering, complex moving except to look and the like was far easier. Especially as I wasn't really doing anything but looking out of the lenses of the cameras – although that was why I had closed my eyes. Speaking from personal experience, it's not fun to try and look out from both a camera's point of view and your own at the same time..

Plus, that was the other reason for me to use the helmet, because in theory my Quirk's distinctive silver lines and my eyes being closed should be less obvious. Which meant I could clearly see as Mina and Aoyama entered the building and started to make their way through the hallways with the standard carefree and flair to them that I expected. Even if I had to stop myself from laughing too hard at Aoyama reacting to Mina accidentally melting holes into his crazy cape. Still, it allowed me to try and hear what they were planning. Sadly, despite being both quite loud people they weren't as loud planning, and soon they started to split up.

"Sato, Mina is going above us, and Aoyama is coming towards us." I commented. "I think they're trying a dual pronged attack – Aoyama is going to probably try a frontal attack to distract us, and Mina will come in from above and grab the bomb. "

Sato hummed. "It's a bit simple, but it's not a bad plan. Aoyama can stay in the hallway and blast away at us from a distance which makes it more convincing." Sato noted… before I hear him grabbing at something. One of his pouches? It's hard to tell – the helmet is a good defence but slightly muffles things. Admittedly if I was doing a defence mission like this, I'd need a partner just in case someone managed to sneak in without me hearing.

I focus back on the cameras and-

"Aoyama's-" I only manage to get that much out as I open my eyes and drop the connection, Sato forcing himself away from the door as Aoyama's navel laser blasted into the barrels, forcing them to scatter. For a couple of seconds the laser dies down as Aoyama lets his stomach take a short break, before he… poses? And there's more- SHIT "More angles!" I called out.

Aoyama grinned. "Au reviour~" He declared before another laser fired out, shorter in duration but firing off to the left, followed by another to the right that forced the two of us to keep moving. "After all, you two can't handle my sparkle forever!~*"

While that might be true of Sato – who thankfully has moved towards the pillars and lifted his sugar pouch – I have another idea. Even as Aoyama takes another break for his stomach, I start at a run towards him while starting to rotate my left hand in its socket.

"Non non~. It won't be that easy villain!" Aoyama called out, even as he fired off another laser that forced me to bring up both of my arms to block, even as it still forced me skidding back a little from the force. "You can't even get close to this sparkle!"

At the same time, I heard a faint hiss, the only warning before an entire section of flooring towards the back of the room collapsed downward and I could see – thanks to the mirrors - Mina leap off of it towards the bomb. It would have worked too if Sato wasn't muscled up and there almost immediately, grabbing Mina by the arm and flinging her into a far wall!

"Oh no." Aoyama remarked even as he fired off another laser, I dodged briefly to the side until it faded.

I moved back towards the centre as my hand rotated faster and faster. I quickly pulled my arm back " **Broken…** " and thrust it out into the air! " **Magnum!** " As I punched at the air I reached out with my Quirk at my hand and essentially fired it forward with all the force of the strike. It wasn't a long-range technique by any stretch like the Mecha technique it was copying, but it allowed for me to add some range to my moves while also catching people off guard. Such as Aoyama who clearly hadn't expected the hand to fire out at him as it hit him right in the stomach and soon left him crumpled on the ground… vomiting. Ah. Stomach soreness plus that… oops.

I turned back around after that and spotted that while Sato was keeping her on her toes, Mina was making her way back around to the bomb! Damn, I can't fire off the other hand, she's too mobile for the current version to work – we need time for me to switch hand pieces. Nothing for it in this case.

"Limiter level 2!" I called out, before rushing forward with an increased burst of speed. Sato is just in front of me but I can put my grapple hook hand on while we run, I line it up to fire at the bomb as Sato grabs Mina-

" **Hero Team Wins!"**

"Wait what? How did- " I skid to a stop and close my eyes briefly. "Oh."

While Sato had managed to grab Mina, he hadn't managed to stop himself with enough distance to account for the stretchy material of Mina's costume. This meant that it had allowed her to move just enough to get her hands onto the bomb. If only just.

* * *

"Geez, that was CLOSE." Mina said, as we made our way back towards the classroom as a group. "I thought that we'd get the drop on you guys!"

I just grinned, having switched back to school uniform at this point. "You should have considered how my Quirk works." I insisted. "Just because I use cybernetic limbs doesn't mean I'm limited to them."

"Which meant you could use the cameras to keep an eye on them as they split up." Shoji commented. "It's useful in an urban fight like that."

"It has a lot of potential." Mineta agreed with a grin. I will pretend that he means that for wholesome reasons.

"Isn't it a bit soon to be naming moves like that though? Broken Magnum sounds like you're sure it will be as effective against everyone like that." Asui noted.

I blushed at that. "Ah… well… I like old stuff. It's a reference." I insisted… before I considered something. "You guys go on ahead actually… I want to check something with Recovery Girl. Make sure that I didn't have any feedback with that move."

Excuse made and with the others starting to discuss what they observed in each other's matches I made my way down the hall towards Recovery Girls Office. But not for that reason. I'd been putting talking about this topic long enough and I know at this point All Might - the REAL All Might – will be there.

I need to let him know that I know about his Quirk. I need to get him and the Principal together and discuss what's going to happen that I remember. And I need to ask them both to give me a much better explanation of one thing that had been bothering me.

What about All Might's adventures clued Nezu off about me reincarnating?


	9. Chapter 9

One might assume that ten years of living a whole new life would just mean that I'm a full adult in the body of a teenager. While that sounds nice in theory, the reality is that while I might be smarter and a little more mature than most of the others in my year, I've lived this life again. And as you try to pretend and adjust to be closer to what is assumed normal for a kid this age… you become more 'normal'. Not just memories, but you form new bonds. You develop new likes and dislikes. You go through puberty all over again. I barely remember my old name sometimes.

But the one thing that I haven't lost? An idea of BIG events. Some of which are hazier than others. But seeing All Might leave that quickly had brought two into focus.

" _Go beyond! PLUS…_ _ **ULTRA!**_ _"_

" _That's because my back wasn't in it!"_

And emphasized one horror.

" _Will you kill me again, All Might?"_

And his horror in training.

" _Everything's because of All Might."_

This isn't the first-time memories have come back to me. And I had been planning on addressing the issue of All for One and other things with All Might anyway. But… there's more now.

Still, I come up to the nurse's office and open the door… only to see Recovery Girl moving across a medical screen. "Ferros? What are you doing here – don't tell me you've got an injury All Might didn't spot?" Recovery Girl asked with a frown I was sure didn't need much work to put on, a small section of the screen starting to shake at that.

I don't speak up at first, looking out into the hall both ways – empty thankfully - before closing the door slowly. "Actually, I'm here to see All Might. He mentioned he was heading this way to check up on Midoriya-san." I noted.

Recovery Girl sighed. "What's so important that you're missing class – and telling a teacher about it no less – that you need to see All Might?"

"It's not something I could say around the other students." I explained. I glanced back again… before moving a bit closer. "It's something I need to tell him about when he doesn't put on the muscles." I added quietly

Before Recovery Girl could speak up, another voice spoke up. "It's ok Recovery Girl." The curtain was pulled aside, and in his baggy costume that was clearly ill fitting for his current form, Toshinori Yagi stepped out. I was no stranger to the idea of injuries, of course, but Toshinori seemed to be nothing but skin and bones. His eyes looked sunken in, but still contained that glint of determination that he held inside him. "I should have realized when Principal Nedzu told me about your circumstances you might know my secret as well. What's so urgent that you needed to skip class though, Young Ferros?"

I stood there for a moment in shock. While the glint in his eyes still seemed the same, you'd never be able to tell that Toshinori was All Might just by looking at the two. Not unless you knew about All for One. Still, I took a gulp and looked at him in the eyes, not as some decaying symbol. "I don't know how well I'll remember things later – remembering your condition reminded me of some problems that are coming to the school soon. That and… I need to ask you some questions." I managed to force out of my suddenly dry throat

"If that's the case, make it quick." Recovery Girl noted. "I know Toshinori plans to stay here for a little longer." She punctuated that with a glare towards Toshinori, who flinched back in response. "And if its important say it, then go back to class."

I flinched back at that as well… but I could also see that Recovery Girl was pulling out a small pad of… oh, absence notes. Still, I looked forward… and sighed as I focused on what I could remember. "All for One is alive." I started slowly… and already I could see Toshinori bundle his hands into fists, a scowl on his face. "And he has a protégé… who plans to launch an attack on a class where they expect you to show up. A trip to the USJ."

For a moment, there was silence as both teachers absorbed what I had just said. "While I don't like the idea that All for One is alive, the USJ matter is more pressing. How do they know about that class?" Toshinori questioned eventually, having managed to hold back much of his anger towards All for One in his voice

I sighed. "A clear answer was never given." I remarked. "And I barely remember the ideas suggested by the teachers as to how. The most common theory was of a traitor, but I find that questionable. The possibility of one is why I only would come to you however – and those who you trust with your secret."

Recovery Girl and Toshinori's eyes widened slightly before Toshinori focused on me. And then a slight smile crossed his face. "But you'd only say that… if the villains showed no sign of knowing about One for All." Toshinori added.

"From what I remember." I punctuated with a pointed finger. "And of course, All for One did."

Silence engulfed the room at that. A shaky sigh escaped Toshinori at that. "You must understand Young Ferros. I had assumed this conversation might be more focused on my end. This is a lot to have to take in." Toshinori explained, even as he unclenched his fists.

"It's not the only thing." I said. "… the USJ attack has a secret weapon. One of many that they've been working on. An Anti-Symbol of Peace, artificial villains called Nomu."

Another shocked silence goes through the room… before I lean against a wall, rubbing my head. "But aside from the Nomu having a defensive Quirk… I don't remember what else it could do. I remember that between Aizawa, Thirteen and my class, the villains were dealt with. I don't even remember anyone getting seriously hurt."

Recovery Girl turned her head towards Midoriya briefly, and then back to me with what I could tell even with her glass visor on what a doubtful look. "Really?"

"A finger, that's it." I corrected sheepishly, rubbing the back of my head as I did.

Recovery Girl nodded, before looking at Toshinori. "That class will still need to be cancelled though. We can't let these students be at risk- "

"But if we do then the villains will know that we somehow knew. And we'd have to put more strain on Young Ferros for him to remember names and descriptions of the villains." Toshinori objected, hands splayed out as he did.

"Recovery Girl-sensei… I must agree with Toshinori-sensei." I insisted. "If the USJ event is removed entirely then my knowledge of what's to come could go entirely out the window."

Toshinori looked at me as I said that, and I looked back. He seemed to be thinking but about what I couldn't say. "You're just like the other young man I met." Toshinori finally said. "You need to understand, this was before I got my injury and was put into this state, about 12 years ago now…"

* * *

All Might looked around the room slowly. It was a maze of rooms and corridors, but if that new hero – Night Eye was it? Something like that - had been any indication, he knew exactly which one he needed to look for. He knew the young hero wanted to be his sidekick and had mentioned this to him as a matter that might be important but even so, All Might was still hesitant. He didn't take on sidekicks after all...

There! Night Eye had said to look for a black door, but this seemed excessive! It was black alright, but to call it a door was underselling it, a massive metal – and likely reinforced – set of sliding barriers. He could see a panel off to the side that clearly was meant to be used to get past, but Sir had insisted that this was urgent. So, in that case…

" **New York… SMASH!** " All Might declared as he leaped at the metallic barriers, waiting until he was just close enough before he THRUST his arms out and slammed them into the 'doors' with all the force he could. It was at times like these that he really appreciated the raw power of One for All – as a massive hole was torn into the doors. Beyond them was a stark white laboratory that looked big enough to fit a football field into – and it was dominated by a mass of machinery at the far side of the room, all linked to a portal roughly the size of All Might himself. The whining of the machinery was accompanied by a pair of different sounding sirens. And standing in front of the gateway, with assistants scattering away from him… was the villain behind it all.

 _Doctor Sutto Nat, or as he called himself, the Fiction Thief. His Quirk allowed him to investigate other realities aside from our own. For years he had tried to copy some of the technologies he had seen but to no avail, leading to people mocking him with the name he then adopted as a villain._

"All Might." Fiction Thief noted with a sad smile, having barely changed his outfit as he was still dressed in a lab coat over rather… casual looking clothes. "I thought those wouldn't hold you long. I'm sorry, but you're too late."

"It's never too late for you to stop and to turn yourself in Sutto-san!" All Might insisted.

Fiction Thief shook his head. "No… I mean, I've already taken what I need." As he said that, he pulled out what looked to be a blue and black rifle that looked awfully narrow and tall, with two gun barrels at an end… and what looked to be a card in the extended section of the gun. He aimed it towards All Might, who prepared to leap-

"Henshin."

" **DIEND!"** The gun announced, even as a series of blue energy fired out towards All Might. The resulting collision forced him to the ground, although it didn't knock him off his feet. The blue energy molded themselves into card shapes and lingered in mid air for a moment, three holographic figures in red, green and blue sliding around the room near the Fiction Thief before converging on him as the cards came back and embedded themselves into the helmet. Briefly a figure that looked like he had stepped out of a children's TV show, with mostly black armour accented by greu along the underside of his arms that extended down to the outside of his legs, and a grey helmet. As the cards impacted into the helmet, their blue colour spread into the grey on the rest of the suit.

* * *

"Hold on, I recognize that name!" I remarked in shock. "Kamen Rider Diend… who in his own reality is a thief. And I think I get why he thought it could win him the world… Diend is able to summon copies of himself and every Kamen Rider there's ever been. That, and he has super speed."

Toshinori chuckled at that but shook his head. "Truthfully, he only managed to get as far making copies of himself that I dispersed and showing that his speed could match mine. He seemed to reach for a card when…"

* * *

Suddenly a figure dashed through the portal at a level of speed that even All Might was caught off guard as Fiction Thief was knocked backwards, a red figure who looked vaguely like a Kabuto beetle appearing where he had been, leg outstretched. But soon after they had appeared, their body seemed to pixelate before reforming into a figure like Fiction Thief's own, but with white on the arms, magenta where there would be blue and, as All Might would see later, a large off-centre X that was placed to the left of the suit with green eyes on the helmet.

"Impossible!" Fiction Thief spluttered. "That's impossible! I made sure you were busy with – wait, that belt… it's the wrong kind!"

"Someone has to look out for their friends when their stuff is taken." A female voice issued from the armoured figure as they turned slightly…. And double took as they looked at All Might. "Oh, I see. So, this is the world of My Hero…"

All Might blinked… before he stood taller and focused. "Miss, are you saying that this weapon he's using belongs to a friend of yours?" All Might asked, his trademark smile on his face.

The magenta figure stood still for a moment. "You're… every bit the hero I thought you would be." She whispered, but loud enough for All Might to hear. "U-um I mean, yes! Well, a friend of a mentor. But I need to take it back."

"And what gives you that right?" Fiction Thief spluttered out. "Everything I've worked towards, everything life pointed me towards! This world should be mine! Just who the hell do you think you are to deny me that?"

The magenta figure turned and looked at Fiction Thief as she put her hands on her hips. "I've been waiting for someone to say that!" She noted excitedly before she pointed at Fiction Thief. "And I'm just a passing through Kamen Rider! Remember that!" She turned her head back towards All Might… before a card suddenly shot out and floated in front of her. "Eh? Oh c'mon… ah, might as well. All Might – shall we finish him together?"

All Might smiled as he walked forward. "It would be my pleasure young Rider." He insisted.

"Decade. Kamen Rider Decade." Decade corrected with what All Might was sure was an embarrassed tone.

"Don't get cocky!" Fiction Thief cried out, taking out a card and sliding it into the gun.

" **FINAL ATTACK RIDE: D-D-D-DIEND!"**

Green holographic images of cards arranged in circles started to line up as Fiction Thief took aim… only for Decade to reach down and pull at the side of her silver belt with the oversized white buckle and toss the card down INTO the buckle.

" **FINAL ATTACK RIDE: A-A-A-ALL MIGHT!"**

Magenta energy sparked off Decade after that announcement. "Let's do this." She insisted, before she jumped into the air towards Fiction Thief. All Might Jumped after her, drawing his fist back as he did – a motion he noticed that she soon copied as he matched her position in the air. Fiction Thief let out a cry of anger as he pulled the trigger on his gun, the cards gathering into an off green beam of energy.

" **Decade…** " All Might began – it was a strange urge that had overcome him really.

" **Smash!** " Decade called out as they both punched forwards. Their fists impacted on and split the beam like it wasn't even there before them, before both fists collided with Fiction Thief. The dual blow flung him into the nearby wall, creating a decent sized impact crater before the man fell to the ground as the gun scattered away from him and with a flash of similar pixilation energy, the suit faded from him.

* * *

Toshinori took a breath in at that and sighed. Even so he had a smile on his face. "I suppose I know now why she was so hesitant to stay around afterwards. If she hadn't guessed my actual name and that of my mentors, I'd had never believed her tale that she wasn't just from another world, but another world by way of yet another world. One where she saw my tales as fiction" He explained. "It's one of the few that I still remember on occasion. I hope that young lady managed to make it home at some point."

I just… blinked at that. So apparently, All Might had faced a villain with interdimensional planar abilities and had accidentally dragged ANOTHER SI into the world briefly. And I don't even know any SI's who were Kamen Riders, less of all those who would be girls and Kamen Rider Decade – the anniversary turn into anyone else Rider – of all things! "And you told the story to Principal Nedzu?" I asked after I pushed my jaw closed.

"Just the once." Toshinori replied with a nod. "But he did tell me how you reacted. Don't feel embarrassed but… he managed to make you reveal yourself."

I sighed and hung my head at that. "So, he really WAS making a guess." I mumbled.

"Not entirely." Recovery Girl spoke up with a kindly smile. "His Quirk gives him a high intellect… but people forget that as an animal he has heightened senses too. Using those two together with his sense of insight means he has an exceptional eye for detail… including tells of the body beyond lying."

"Which means he noticed that some of your body language was different to what was expected from someone of your age." Toshinori continued. "And from there, he must have remembered the story I told him and made the guess based on that logic."

And before I can answer, I hear a ripping sound, and Recovery Girl hands me a note. "There. I understand this was for your mental well-being, but this is the only time I'm going to give you a note for something like this. Next time, see the Principal instead of rushing after Toshinori!" Recovery Girl admonished.

I nodded and pulled myself out of the lean on the wall. As I turned around, I stopped. "Toshinori-sensei… it might not be a bad idea to get in contact with those who know the real you. They might have some insight about teaching Midoriya-san." I remarked with a smile. After that I simply exited the nurse's office.

* * *

Thankfully no-one really questioned me when I made it back to class – which is fair given that I pushed the limbs a bit beyond and if anyone was openly curious, Sero would have probably mentioned what happened in the entrance exam to them. Still, it leaves me waiting until the end of the lesson for me to put the costume – which was back in its case – back. It doesn't help that due to my bulky arm pieces, boots and the helmet, I probably have the biggest case out of anyone's costume aside from maybe Bakugou's – his gauntlets are bigger than mine.

Not that it was an issue with my class. It's just that 1-B is right next door and I think Monoma noticed and started laughing. That or their teacher is the inverse of Aizawa-sensei. Shame I remember basically nothing about his class aside from Kendo and a couple of others whose name escapes me.

Still, the day went on, as did the classes. And soon we found ourselves… well, with time to ourselves. School was over, but none of us were feeling all that quick to get home. After all…

"Did you see that massive attack Midoriya used? Man, if he knew how to do that without breaking his arms…"

"I know! And Todoroki! That was an awesome wave of ice!"

It turned to talking about battle training. I just sighed a bit. "The ice was good, but I agree with All Might that it was a bit much." I noted. "While it immobilized the villain team it could have done a lot of damage to the building."

Todoroki Shoto, who at this point hadn't spoken up, slowly glanced over and raised an eyebrow at that. I suppose that's the best I'm going to get from him before Midoriya works on him.

"Actually I kinda agree with Ferros-san." The walking school uniform that is Toru Hagakure noted. "My Quirk doesn't do well against big area attacks like that, but what if he'd been up against Kaminari-san, Aoyama-san or Tokoyami-san." Well I suppose this is only day 2, it's a bit early for -kuns.

Todoroki tilted his head slightly at that, before Asui Tsuyu – sorry, Tsu pointed a finger to her face. "While that's true, it would also be really good against someone with a Quirk like mine because the cold makes me hibernate, kero." Huh, she has a point…

"I'm just glad I decided to go for a stretchier material for my costume." Mina admitted as she sprawled out against the desk. "Without that I'd have lost the exercise!"

Ojiro nodded as he stood up, stretching slowly. "It's an effective idea. I went with something more familiar to my martial arts, but you went for yours in case someone grabs you, right?" He surmised

"Yeah!" Mina stated with a grin. "See, I can make Acid from anywhere in my body, but if I can't get a good position to aim it, it doesn't work!"

"I'm not sure how well I'd do against one of those big scale Quirks." Jiro noted as she wrapped one of her earphone jacks around a finger. "My speakers work well, but I can't get the same sort of volume out."

Tsu nodded. "But then you're really good at telling where the opponent is. You're more like me or Ferros-chan, less super powerful, but more flexible." She added. Straight to the endearment suffix huh?

Ojiro nodded, even as he stretched out his tail. "That's a good point actually. How did you manage that punch you pulled off against Aoyama during the exercise Ferros-san?" He questioned.

"I bet it was some super cool rocket booster in his hand!" Hagakure insisted even as she pumped her fist slightly. I think.

I shook my head with a smile. "I just punched while it was spinning and used my Quirk to force the hand off the connector. The combined force can make it fly forward a bit." I explained.

"And you named the attack too." Gah! How the fu- When did Tokoyami sit on his desk like that and just how did he manage to avoid me noticing him for that long? "Isn't it a bit early for that?"

"It didn't sound like something from a Kamen Rider." Jiro added.

I blinked… and then blushed. "Well… I never said I **just** liked Kamen Rider." I said quietly, pushing my fingers together embarrassed.

"It's GaoGaiGar isn't it? Trying to copy a move from the King of Braves!"

At that those of us in the current conversation, even Todoroki, stop and slowly turn to look towards Hagakure who… seemed to be taking on some sort of a dynamic pose. I don't know, invisible girl makes it hard to tell. "Uh… that's right but… how do you…?" I trailed off dumbfounded.

Hagakure giggled. "Daddy wanted to show me cool ways to use invisibility. One of the robots in that could do it so… it kinda just stuck." She explained.

"Is your whole family invisible?" Mina asked, but as Hagakure went to answer, the door opened and Midoriya stepped in, meaning the whole conversation was derailed. As we introduced ourselves one by one I couldn't help but wonder what there was behind some of the students that either I didn't remember… or just were never shown.

* * *

And so life went on. I want to say the next day wasn't as much of a hassle.

I'm not about to lie that blatantly though. As Kendo, Neito, Mei and I walked towards U.A. I spotted with mounting dread in my stomach a massive crowd gathered at the gates… and Neito having already grabbed my shoulder. "Edward. Let me go first." He insisted… so I hung back slightly and let him take a slight lead.

"What's going on?" Kendo asked.

Mei sighed. "Paparazzi. None of us really like them… if you ask me they should take time out of their silly stories to focus on the upcoming genius that is me." She insisted, even though her usual trademark smile was lacking.

"And Neito and I have issues regarding them in general." I added. I have vivid memories of how when a family member died in my first life and it became a story we all had to spend time in hotels because the paparazzi were stalking the house. Among other things that haven't diminished at all since coming to this world. Still, as we make our way forward, with Kendo and Mei either side of me by my choice as I'd rather not be their new focus, the reporters surged towards us.

"You there! What's school life like with All Might as a teacher?" One reporter at the head asked, even as we continued to walk forward.

"Does he try to mold you all into Symbols like him?"

"Tell us, the public has a right to know."

I started to turn from frowning to an outright scowl, but I resisted the urge to fry the equipment. Barely. Besides if Neito took the lead, he has something in mind. In fact, Neito stops just a few steps before we can start heading for the gates.

Neito slowly turned to look at the reporters and smiled. "So you want to know about All Might?" He asked slowly.

"Yes, of course!" The first reporter insisted. "What can you tell us?"

Neito hummed. "Well… I was just asking because it seemed weird. After all, isn't ambushing kids outside of a school like this to ask them questions when they might not even be his students questionable?" He asked as his grin started to turn more malicious and he pushed his hand through his hair. "I mean isn't the duty of the press supposed to be to report things in a fair and honest manner? To use your ethics to guide you instead of ambushing students and possibly making them late?"

Oh. That's what he's doing… I like it. Even as Kendo sighed and started to step forward, I tapped her on the shoulder and shook my head before walking towards Neito myself. "Oh, you can't blame them can you?" I pointed out. "After all, they're just looking for a story aren't they? We can't help it if they're being bottom feeding news scum, they probably gave up all their dignity long ago when they decided they were going to be paparrazi right?" I leaned back a bit and splayed out my arms and hands. "I mean it's weird that they'd choose that right? Deciding that journalistic integrity was a suggestion and they should just try to get any story they can?"

"Like some vultures scrounging around for the first scraps they can bite into?"

"More like rats desperate for anything they can get their hands on."

"It IS weird right?"

"Why couldn't they be happy just with a phone call or a media statement?"

"Or maybe they should wait for All Might to decide to announce something himself?"

"Oh don't be silly, All Might doesn't deserve a personal life to himself!"

"Of course, we should just let his every moment be on the news!"

"That will really encourage more people to be heroes won't it?"

"It's almost like they want more crime right?"

"It's so weird right?"

Oh it has been a while since I've allowed Neito to cut loose on someone who deserves it and not interrupted him. Longer still since I've joined in with it. And at the least most of the reporters had the decency to look slightly guilty at our accusations. But as they did, Kendo and Mei had already walked past. Without a word from either of us, we followed after and ignored the calls out from the crowd as they realized we had walked off. "Mei, did you get that?" Neito asked.

"Recorded, saved, sent a copy to the three of you, uploading to the internet now." Mei remarked.

"I don't get it. Why do you two hate the news so much?" Kendo asked.

Neito let out a sigh as he tried to re-shift his hair. "When you get kids calling you a Quirk thief, you don't tend to be fond of how the news portrays certain Quirks." Neito simply insisted.

"Mum was a decently famous hero in England and I was at the centre of a big legal case that invited MORE attention." I grumbled, hands in my pockets. "If they were proper reporters at a media statement, I'd be fine. Paparazzi abandon morals and integrity to be the villains of the news wo-." And Neito gave me a light chop on the neck. "Fair enough."

* * *

Fortunately, after that there wasn't much in the way of exciting stuff. Oh sure, class presidency was voted on – I voted for Iida personally given how organized he is – but even with a minor panic because of invading paparazzi it wasn't enough to count as being as exciting as the day before. Even so, as we settled down back at the lunch tables I looked around the usual group… and sighed as I noticed something.

"Neito. I think Mei's forgotten it's lunch time again."

Neito groaned. "Not again. You think her teachers would force her out here."

"Um… I'm confused." Sero noted. "Mei?"

"Edward-kun's cousin." Kendo explained. "She's… eccentric, but does she usually spend all of lunch working?"

"Can you blame me? My babies were calling!" We looked over to the right and, sure enough, Mei had actually managed to arrive with a food tray in hand.

"It says something that you need an evacuation alarm to remind you to eat." I muttered. "Seriously, don't make it a pattern. Remember what happened when you got that book on Tesla and Edison for your birthday?"

"It was really involving reading!" Mei insisted.

"What about the time we found you disassembling the projector in one of the classrooms to 'improve' it?" Neito added.

"Well it did!" Mei insisted.

"A projector that can be focused as a laser for class defence isn't what most schools need Mei!" I countered.

Mina gawked. "Wait, seriously? A laser?" She asked dumbfounded.

Mei grinned at that. "Easy enough for me. Hatsume Mei, of the Support course!" She declared…. Before rummaging into her pockets and throwing something to me. "Oh and by the way, here."

I caught the items on instinct, before I took a look – ah. "Modified air cannons. Good. And you had Power Loader-sensei look them over this time?" I questioned slowly.

"Some people can't appreciate a bad test run." Mei criticized, even as I couldn't help but laugh.

* * *

The screens showed the footage. Part of UA's barriers broken. No mere news group could have done that, not without some arrests.

 _Two titans, the good Doctor and All Might, clashing in blurs of speed and firepower. It almost knocks him off his feet, but the monitoring equipment is there for a reason._

Part of him was almost annoyed at how easily it seemed to happen. The other was considering who could do that… and why. And once again it allows him to start smiling.

 _So much raw data, not just from the fight but from what signals the bugs gave before the two piece of this 'Rider' equipment left! Monster and heroes alike, all born from humans – all without Quirks!_

He tapped slowly at his keyboard as a number popped up on screen. The money was well spent in this case… he didn't want to be left out here. Still, soon a ringing tone fills the room…

" _Hello?_ "

"Hello. Are you Kurogiri?"

"…"

"Don't worry, money talks, but only when the seller trusts the money."

" _Giran._ "

"Exactly. Look, I noticed the… interesting incident that happened at U.A. today. And I know that you guys have been doing a bit of a drive as of late. How would you like one more for… whatever you've got planned."

" _And why should I trust some voice on the phone?_ "

And that just makes him grin again. "Mention the name 'Tarantulus' to Sensei. He'll know what I mean."

Next time: **U.S.J.**


	10. Chapter 10

And today is the day. Three days into school term. Three days of us having costumes, having professional instruction. Three days… and we're about to go into the lion's den.

"Edward."

To be honest, I'm still not happy about the fact that I'm putting everyone in danger just to keep things on track… but the sooner U.A. and thus the hero community has exact details on Shigaraki, Kurogiri and the Nomus, the better. I don't trust my own recollection to be entirely accurate.

"Edward?"

And what if I remembered wrong? I don't remember anyone getting too hurt, but is that me using rose tinted glasses on my own memories? And how will U.A. provide extra defence without making it obvious? That Nomu could be a serious issue later if it isn't dealt with.

"Man, he's zoned out. Hey Jiro-san, do you mind-"

"On it."

GAGH! Sound! Overwhelming sound for just a brief moment that was enough for me to fling myself off my desk and onto the floor. Thankfully Aizawa-sensei isn't here yet. I groaned and looked up to see Kaminari, Kirishima and Jiro looking down at me.

"Sorry about that man, but you were totally zoned out." Kirishima explained.

Kaminari nodded. "Kinda freaky actually. I mean you don't usually go all dead to the world like that. So what's up?" He asked

Crap. Uhhhh…. "Just… feeling a bit nervous about things is all." I… not entirely lied. "After yesterday almost lead to a panic, I dunno, call it nerves."

"You could almost call it stage fright… if we weren't at school." Jiro pointed out. "Seriously, take it easy. You look like you're about to snap."

"Seconded" Kirishima noted. "You stressin' out about trying to be a hero?"

"I'll be fine. Really." I insisted. But geez, how bad is it if the others can read me like a book at the moment? It's just after lunch, I've been putting up with this all day so far and- ah, there's Aizawa-sensei.

"Today your Hero Basic Training has turned into a class with four different teachers." Aizawa noted "Aside from a guest teacher who will be meeting us later, the teachers will consist of All Might, myself and another guest."

Just one hero? I suppose it'd be hard to justify any others but who could they take off their job to be the extra-

Mid trail of thought someone else steps into the room and my jaw dropped slightly. And for once, not because I was impressed. That scruffy blond hair, that muzzled snout…

"Afternoon. I'm Hound Dog, and usually I'm U.A.'s lifestyle coach." Hound Dog explained. "But then All Might just happened to mention exactly what class you're doing today and I thought it might be good to show you just how even pros approach situations differently. Ya mind Eraserhead?"

"Go ahead." Aizawa replied, handing him a small placard that he had been keeping in one of his pockets.

Hound Dog chuckled. "Then I'm happy ta announce that today we'll be helping you kids with some RESCUE TRAINING! Arooo!" Oh my god he's actually howling as he holds said card with the word 'RESCUE' on it above his head. Thing is I don't remember him being this nice… maybe he's a bit excited he's getting to teach a class for once?

I barely remember him at all but I don't remember anything great. In fact I only remember him at all because I remembered U.A. had a dog and I'm only now realizing it was a teacher with a dog Quirk. I don't remember any great fights, any boasts made about him, and given how the only one seeming to be reacting to his presence is Midoriya up the back means that he's pretty obscure when it comes to heroes.

But both Toshinori and Nedzu should know about the dangers. They'd need to pull a teacher away that is both effective and whose shifted presence isn't notable. I can believe the latter but… just why did they pick him with the former in mind?

…

On the other hand, Tsu. Hell, my Quirk is nothing to write home about either…

* * *

Despite Aizawa-sensei telling us we could choose if we brought our costumes or not, it seems to me like only two people have left any of their costume behind – Midoriya's costume is still being repaired from his fight with Bakugou, and I don't think Bakugou brought his mask with. Which means Jiro and Kaminari are in their street looking outfits, Mineta looks more like a toddler than he already does, and Tokoyami has put on a cloak.

And as we sit on the bus, nobody really has on their head gear.

"Ferros-san! Why are you wearing your helmet while we're on the bus?" Iida asked, gesturing at my face with both arms wildly swinging about in a… surprisingly small area. "It also doesn't seem like it would be the most efficient in a rescue scenario!"

Well I hadn't brought it with me with that in mind. But that isn't to say I don't have a reason. "I actually have an inbuilt air filtration system built into the helmet Iida-san." I remarked. "I wanted to make this as functional as it could be for more than just fighting."

"I suppose you'd need to think about that when it comes to your Quirk." Hagakure noted. For some reason she WAS in costume. "It's not exactly one you can always use without stuff nearby right?"

As I nodded Sero grinned. "Plus a helmet like that can really help when you need to worry about what's above you, that's why my costume has one." He insisted.

"I didn't think about that when picking out things for my hero costume." Shoji – or rather one of Shoji's hands turned into a mouth – said. "For me less seemed like more. The more room I have to use my limbs the better I can use my Quirk."

"You really have to think about how you're going to show off your Quirk it seems." Iida added. And then he paused and thrust an arm towards me. "But that still doesn't explain why you have the helmet on!"

"Are you listening to the radio from there?" Mina joked.

I didn't speak for a moment and let the idea sink in for a moment. "Damnit! I was just wearing this because I like wearing the helmet!" I burst out, "I could've been listening to music!" I catch some of the others laughing at that and it does help me smile a bit under the helmet.

Really, I'm actually wearing it to panic a bit without the others seeing. I don't want them worrying. Everyone needs to be on the top of their game or someone could get seriously hurt – or worse. I like wearing the helmet of course – but that's secondary.

* * *

Of course, if you want to see a hero who really has their costume define them you need not look any further than Thirteen. The spaceman motif itself was really awesome, especially with that black hole Quirk, but seeing so many of my classmates reacting in awe to him was putting a smile on my face too. And why not? Thirteen was a hero with one of the highest disaster rescue records in the country and was well known even outside of the usual circles of hero discussion. Granted I only know that thanks to a certain debater that I still argue with on occasion on that forum. They taught me a lot about heroes. Stuff I either think I knew before but forgot, and stuff I never knew.

"Whoa, it looks like Universal Studios Japan!" Kirishima remarked. I couldn't help but agree as we looked out at the massive expanse of the disaster exercise building while Thirteen told us about the areas. Just having a shipwreck with constantly flowing water would be a pain enough due to having to deal with algae and such, but then there's the surprisingly stable looking landslide, simulated fires and windstorms, ravines and more. This was a facility I had heard about before a few weeks back.

" _I can't help but be a bit jealous of you sweetie. You'll get the chance to go see the Unforeseen Simulation Joint. Nedzu keeps teasing me about how expansive the technology is in there and yet he's never let me go in and have a look!"_

The fact that Thirteen shortened it to USJ didn't hurt the comparison. It was taking a LOT of self restraint not to just stretch out my Quirk and feel every piece of technology – I'd be here for hours if I did that, if not DAYS. And yet as Thirteen and Aizawa spoke – Hound Dog was looking around and seemed to be sniffing the air – it was a reminder to me that despite himself Toshinori had probably used up most of his time again. But as Thirteen started to go into something of a speech Hound Dog growled and the group froze.

"Eraser. Thirteen." Hound Dog growled out. "I can feel something… _wrong_ in the air. Something's up."

"Any odd smells?" Aizawa asked, already starting to reach down for his goggles.

"Students, stay together." Thirteen insisted, his own voice not quite as calm as Aizawa's own business attitude but betraying a far more. People were already starting to mutter to each other.

"Slight tang of copper. Electrical smell." Hound Dog noted while he grabbed at his own muzzle… before a surge of electricity ran across the lights quite clearly, which caused them to fade and dim slightly as the fountain spluttered. Dark energy started to gather in mid air as it swirled. At first it took on a large demonic form before gathering into an immense dark gateway. A gateway that left me rooted to the spot as I stared at it and saw the gaze of madness barely concealed by fingers stare back at me. As a young man with pale hair and hands all over him emerged from the portal with other twisted figures.

"Thirteen, Eraserhead and Hound Dog?" A deep voice asked from the misty portal as the energy started to gather into one more coherent form. "The schedule we received the other day said that All Might was supposed to be here, not Hound Dog."

"I can't believe he isn't here." The man with far too many hands said, a hulking brute of a Nomus beside him as it looked about with wild eyes. The brain clearly on the top of its head naked for the world to see. "Maybe we should kill some of these kids to draw him out? I did bring the entire party with me."

We stood back, away from the madman as the villains slowly approached us. "How did they get in here?" Kirishima asked.

"Sensei, aren't there intruder sensors?" Yaoyorozu asked.

Thirteen moved slightly. "There are…" And that statement is all I needed to close my eyes to try and focus. Get a feel for the technology of this place which is… not as complicated as the robots but still not an easy navigation. Intruder sensors are still sensors though and have a specific build to them.

"They're offline." I muttered. "I'm looking at… what I think are the ones nearest. Something's forced them offline and I don't know how to turn them back on."

"Then it's possible they're using some sort of Quirk to disrupt communications." Hound Dog growled out. "Thirteen, get these pups out of here!"

"Kaminari, Ferros, try using your Quirks to contact the school." Aizawa added.

As Kaminari reached for his radio – huh, that actually works? Alright, his costume isn't all aesthetics – I tried to focus on using the antennae on my head. A simple S.O.S broadcast wouldn't be too hard but I need to focus and try and break through whatever blocking they've put up around the USJ. And as I focus on that I see Aizawa-sensei… no. I see ERASERHEAD and Hound Dog leap forward and into the fray before us.

While I had vague memories of Eraserhead in action it was another thing to see him doing it before your eyes. Three villains with shooting-type Quirks instantly disabled before being snared by his scarf and launched into the air, followed up but some fancy footwork around the arms of a heteromorphic villain that ended in a rather nasty punch.

Hound Dog on the other hand was a lot more straightforward, barrelling towards the villains with a shocking burst of speed as he roughly grabbed the collars of two villains outfits and SLAMMED them into one another. He didn't even slow down at that as he slammed into a big bellied looking villain with a headbutt that sent the villain flying a few feet. Even as a snake villain lashed out to bite him, he rolled with the force of what would have been the bite before he grabbed the villain by the neck and bit down in return!

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see much more than that as I started running towards the exit of the USJ. Seeing the teachers fight is all well and good but we had to prioritize getting out. Hopefully if we're fast enough, we can change things and get –

Dark energy rushed ahead of us and formed into the vaguely human shape from before, yellow eyes looking out akin to sinister fog lights in the darkness. "Hello. We are the League of Villains." Kurogiri said far too politely. "It may be presumptuous of us, but we invited ourselves into the home of heroes, U.A. High School, to have All Might, the symbol of peace, draw his last breath" Wow. He's actually announced that like a comic villain. I'd joke about it but I remember what his Quirk is. I'd rather not convince him to bisect me through portals. "I was under the impression that All Might was to be here today. Has there been some sort of change? Well that is neither here nor there… this is the part I'm here to play."

And as he finished speaking three things happened in rapid succession. Thirteen popped open one of his finger caps to use his Quirk. Bakugou and Kirishima let out a cry ad they leaped at him, arms swinging and an explosion. And Kurogiri… was entirely unharmed by the blast as his energy descended on us.

"I am to scatter you… and torture you all to death."

I could barely see my hand in front of my face as I tried to spin one of my firsts as an impromptu drill to force my way out of the darkness that surrounded us. And to that I only heard his voice up close.

"No. Not you. Someone wants to meet you."

And then… darkness.

* * *

Darkness that is soon ended by me falling through the air down towards concrete! The wind is wild around here and there are buildings all around me! I reach out with my right arm and wince as my body feels the feedback from the sudden stop, before I use the motion of only one hand for support to swing out in a more controlled form towards the road, forcing myself down leg first.

While my arms are reinforced to reduce the strain of more intense attacks on my biological body, what with even the shoulder cybernetic, my legs have systems that work double duty to both reduce the strain on myself, and the strain from hard landings. It was the only way Mum even entertained the idea of me being a hero, I think. Still, rain splattered against my helmet, sliding off the lenses mostly due to the immense force of the wind as I look around… only to notice a group of villains grinning as they approached me.

"This kid's a moron!" A villain who seemed to simply have 'muscles' going for him and wielding an uprooted street sign said "Ya shoulda hit the ground and splatted kid, woulda saved us the trouble!"

"I like it actually, been ages since I got into a good scrap!" Another with no arms but four floating large hands remarked.

"Who cares, he's just a kid! This will be easy." One of them, who looked like he was literally made of boulders, remarked with an unusually high voice. High enough to make me snort out a laugh. "Oh you're going to be like that are you kid?"

At that the man thrust his arm forward, a boulder literally detaching from his body as it flew towards me. Trying to deflect it would just damage me too much or break the boulder, so for the next best thing…

" **Level 2.** " I muttered before I speedily stepped out of the way of the boulder and rushed at the four handed dude. As I expected he forced his hands out to punch at me – but he isn't expecting me to go this fast. I rush at him and punch him HARD in the gut, sending him to the floor before I see another boulder being shot at me, and far too close for my liking. I leaped into the air to get over it – meaning four hands is clotheslined by it – but the strong guy is already in the air and winding up for a haymaker.

A haymaker that never lands as a pair of shadowy hands reach out from behind him, before twirling with him in the air and then dunked him into the ground like a basketball!

"Ora! Yeah, how'd ya like that small fry!" The shadowy birdlike figure of Dark Shadow remarked as he lashed out with an extra punch to the guy afterwards while I landed.

Tokoyami walked out from the side alley of one of the nearby buildings. "Ferros-san, are you alright?" Tokoyami asked.

"Thanks to you two coming out just in time." I noted with a smile… which he can't see. A thumbs up then. "They seem fairly coordinated though." I added, as I turned to face the boulder villain.

"Tch, there's a reason for that." The high pitched voice pointed out. "We're part of this badass Quirk gang, and we're just one group! Once the others hear you're here, they'll come running and you'll be surrounded! But let's deal with you two now! **Avalanche!** " At that, boulder after boulder fired off of his body, even flinging his head at us. Dark Shadow rushed back to Tokoyami and deflected each attack with a powerful swipe of his claws as I moved side to side to dodge the attacks. We tensed, turned and waited for the boulders to pull themselves out and rush back at us!

…

Any minute now… oh wow they're not coming back. I slowly leaned to the side to look at the boulders and… yeah, they aren't moving. "You can't control your own body after you fling yourself at people?" I asked incredulously.

"Shut up! Usually nobody survives my Avalanche attack!" The muffled voice of the boulder villain called back.

"Technically it's a landslide." Tokoyami deadpanned.

"Quiet, you! It'll be all over your faces once my gang arrives!" The boulder man insisted.

"Which would be useful… if they were."

For a moment a voice spoke up and sounded clear over the rushing wind and rain. While it was clearly spoken it sounded almost condescending in tone, and despite Japanese being spoken I could recognize a strong British accent in it. Strong steps impacted against the wet ground which caused Tokoyami, Dark Shadow and I to turn and look towards the noise. A man in a mostly white full bodied suit with black in the inside of the arms that went all the way down to the outside of the legs slowly and calmly walked towards us as he clapped slowly. The chest of his suit displayed large cog symbol with a chemical atom symbol within it and black lensed eyes that looked out towards the three of us. Almost as if judging us.

"That voice! You're the last-minute guy!" The boulder man remarked. "What do you mean 'if?'"

The man in the altered version of the Future Foundation Spider-Man suit – comics are still stored online thankfully – sighed dramatically and shook his head with his arms outstretched as he did so. "I have a purpose here to fulfill. And if I let you muscle brains walk around, you'd just interfere with it all." He added… before he rushed forwards!

Tokoyami and I braced ourselves and prepared ourselves. But instead of attacking, he just ran past the both of us and slammed his palm into the 'head' boulder behind us. A stream of electricity shot out, running over the soaked boulder for a couple of seconds, the light of it reflecting off the raindrops and only seeming to illuminate the betrayal of the newly arrived villain. As the electricity ran over the stone that high pitched voice seemed to increase into an even higher pitched screaming, before seeming to fade as mercifully the boulder villain fell unconscious. The man pulled his hand back and turned to face us, raindrops slowly running down his costume. And then he started to clap slowly.

"Well done! Those three morons were some of the strongest thugs that were in this group." He remarked as he swept his arms aside, before bringing one closer to his chest. "Oh, there were more dangerous ones, but they would have jeopardized this very moment, the most important moment, my very request!"

"Who are you?" Tokoyami asked. His focus was fully on the overdramatic man as Dark Shadow took on a more predatory and ready to strike position.

"Oh fine, interrupt a man before he's done monologuing!" The villain(?) whined as he slumped a little. He recovered fast however as he slowly rubbed the chin area of his costume. "But name… name… I was so excited to do this I didn't really think of a name. Ah!" He snapped his fingers on his other hand at that. "How about…" Leaning forward slightly, he brought up his arms and… wiggled his fingers? "The Meanufacturer?"

Silence filled the area except for the sound of rain falling and wind blowing… in fact, it seemed a tad louder than earlier at the moment..

"That sounds cheesier than some sentai villains I've seen." I remarked dryly. "And for the rest it's about on par." And the worst part is that he said it in English. He's picked the name of a wanna-be Power Rangers villain. On purpose.

"Meanoo-factola?" Dark Shadow attempted to pronounce as if to prove my point.

"It's a mix of Manufacturer – someone who makes things - and Mean" I replied with a shake of my head.

Dark Shadow flashed me a thumbs up. "Right, then it is a dumb name!"

Tokoyami slowly glanced at his partner. "You remember you named yourself, right?" Tokoyami asked.

Dark Shadow slumped down at that… and Meanufacturer roared out as he laughed. "Oh, that's great, and here I was worried with that dark and broody look you'd be some sort of sourpuss!" Meanufacturer insisted.

I blinked behind my helmet. Ok. So he zapped the boulder guy and now… what? He just wants to chat? "I'm sorry but… aren't you a villain?" I questioned.

Meanufacturer tilted his head to an almost _uncomfortable_ degree. "Well I was happy to talk a bit more, but some exercise never hurt!" He declared before suddenly rushing towards us! Dark Shadow swooped towards him and swiped with a claw, only for Meanufacturer to duck under the blow and hit Dark Shadow in the chest with an electrified palm blow and an over dramatic 'WACHA!" declaration.

As he did I rushed at him and went for a punch that he barely blocked. I continued to slam blow after blow at him at the faster speed, but each time he seemed to move his body to block the blows just in time, even though that shouldn't be so easy!

"Oooh, I see what you're doing there!" Meanufacturer noted gleefully as he clapped his hands together a couple of times.. "Speeding your arms and legs up, not bad. But can you keep up when someone matches you?" Meanufacturer asked as the electrical glow in his palms died and he threw out a punch faster than I expected! The reinforced armor of my suit took the blow but forced me to skid back a bit from the force. Before I even pull myself out of the skid fully he's lashing out with a kick, that forced me to bring up an arm to my side to block as it hit with a metallic ring sounding off of the metallic bracer on my arm. Even so the wet ground meant I had to slam my leg down harder to stop myself from stumbling further from the blow.

Before Meanufacturer could continue his faster assault, Dark Shadow dived back at him, lashing out with a series of speedy punches that almost seemed to become a blur with a cry of "Oraoraoraoraora!" Meanufacturer even had to start stepping back from the powerful impacts while blocking.

I blinked and looked at Tokoyami. "Is he-"

"Yes." Tokoyami noted with a long suffering tone in his voice. He sighed and almost seemed to droop. "Please don't mention it."

I simply nodded in understanding at that. Still, using Dark Shadow's impromptu rush as a distraction, I forced myself forwards with both arms pulled back before thrusting them forward!. One punch to his left arm, one to the right, both forcing the arms to the sides and leaving his chest of his body exposed! I lashed out and hit him HARD with a spinning fist-

*!*

I…. urgh, what? What was that? I hit him – he actually hit the side of a building with enough force to leave some cracks, but… I felt something just then. Meanufacturer started to push away from the building but I rushed forward and make contact with his chest, again.

That feeling. I know that feeling. But before I can say anything an electrified palm struck me in my chest. The force of the impact and the electrical discharge sent me flying back only for Dark Shadow to catch me and move me back next to Tokoyomi.

"Ah man, you had to figure it out that fast?" Meanufacturer complained. "And here I thought we could keep going for a few more rounds, get you thinking a bit as to how I can do all this, what sorta Quirk I had!"

"What's he talking about Ferros-san?" Tokoyami questioned, having actually turned his head to look at me as Dark Shadow put me down.

I looked dead on at Meanufacturer for a second as I tried to make sense of it all. "I… felt something just then. When I hit him, I felt machinery. That's not a human standing there. That's a robot!"

Meanfucaturer sighed as he placed his hand onto his face and shook his head. "Close, dear hero, so close. While this body and the brain inside it is robotic, there's still the organic element to it." He clarified even as he removed his hand from his head and had it start pointing at us. "What you see here is a remote-control body for when I need to get personally involved. After the last time I trusted someone else to do that it became painfully clear that lesser types can't be trusted to carry out my vision. That when things are so important I need to be involved personally."

"What do you mean?" I questioned, slowly shifting my stance to be more defensive. "Why are you here?"

At that Meanufacturer started to slowly chuckle darkly and tilted his head towards me. "Why am I here? Why am I fighting you? Why am I doing this so personally and not through some agent? Why did I ask Kurogiri to bring you specifically here? It all has the same answer Edward!" The robotic body tilted it's head back slightly before pointing at me. "In fact, that answer is because of YOU!"

I responded pretty much the only reasonable way someone could to that.

"What?"

* * *

 _I'm not surprised you don't know of me. You've never met me directly before. And to be fair, when I first started out doing this I had never planned on someone like you._

A man in a damaged lab coat sat at home with scattered pages all over the place . He was focused on his laptop, the light from it shining off his glasses as he watched two figures, then three fighting. His focus seemed to shift from one in cyan to another in magenta. All the while a number of other windows seemed to be running through text before forming into images of other armored figures. Of weapons. Of monsters.

 _I had started out merely as an assistant, dragged into villainy by association by a man with brilliant vision. Of course, people remember him now as the Fiction Thief, but I will always remember him as Dr. Sutto Nat. He pulled from all around the world for those who could help him, and he knew of my genius in the field of robotics, biology and in the digital realm. And while I would never be able to replicate his greatest genius, the result of it granted me a treasure trove of information!_

The same man, now in a new lab coat and in a proper lab, smiles and bows to another, average looking man, with a syringe of violent red liquid in one hand and another with a twisted purple in the other.

 _Personally while he was a genius I feel the good Doctor had it all wrong. He thought that by taking the weapon of a hero - or a hero-ish being - he could be a top villain. He never bothered to look beyond, to explore the story behind it. To think of what he would do after he won. I always believed that society was at the cusp of peace - true peace - and we needed true heroes to make it happen! But they couldn't be like so many heroes were and still are. There's no peace made by a hero who fights for revenge, fame, or greed. No, it would need to be a hero that fought for the sake of heroism. One who could be a beacon of justice that made everyone nearby feel safer when they arrived. But those idols are often cast down before their time - All Might is the exception._

The syringes are injected into the average man's body. Nothing seems to happen, but soon, the average man grasps his skull and groans as it expands bigger and bigger… before smiling as eight legs emerge from the head slowly, each one slamming down onto the concrete footpath, cracking it..

 _So using the data I obtained, I worked on two theories. And to test the first I made the villain, Tarantulus. A supposedly Quirkless man given an experimental serum and a little extra to indulge in his twisted desires - and a minor, latent Quirk. I unleashed him in the area near my own home so I could ensure I would be just as likely to be attacked of course – but he was there to test my theory that existing heroes will always rise to greater heights when faced with adversity! Why should I risk the lives of others without risking my own?_

The man in the lab coat stares at the TV with a dull expression on his face. His glasses reflecting fire, wreckage and death. He slumps back in his chair as tears trail down his face.

 _To say it went horribly wrong would be an understatement. I expected injuries, but I also expected him to be able to be taken out by a hero before he killed anyone - I had thought to study the area before after all! But I saw the news. So many dead, and a child injured, possibly for life. I almost gave up then and there… if it wasn't for you, dear Edward._

The smile was back on the man's face as he looks at his laptop. Not of the data streams this time, but a single news story. The image attached to the story showing the hero Iron Butterfly and her son Edward leaving the courthouse - and with Edward walking on metallic legs. He opens up another file on the computer and as his glasses reflected an image of a burning cross, he smiled.

 _You and your mother fighting back against antiquated laws of heroism… and you were moving past your injuries. You were striving to be stronger than before. And it reminded me of the second theory I had gathered based on what information I could get from those suits. How every great hero can in some way be tied to a villain._

The years start to pass. The man reinvents himself and starts working on technology. He builds up more and more of an independent technology service… but at the same time in private, builds more and more machinery, crafting a twisted lab for him to observe his subjects. He watches as the first drones start to fly out.

 _So I decided to watch parts of the world. I wanted to wait to observe you again, to test my theory. I wanted to see other examples in the field. But I kept a track of your age… and when I knew it was time, I focused on the hero schools. Imagine my glee when I see one person in particular. When I see Edward Ferros, son of the Iron Butterfly, at U.A. Becoming a hero. The hero I created!_

* * *

Now, it's not that I don't get what he's trying to say. But at the same time… what about independent thought? Independent desires? He claimed so confidently that he was the one to mold me, but unless his methods got into comic book level super science, there's no way he could actually mold those right?

To say I was a bit skeptical would be an understatement. Oh, there was enough potential truth there that I couldn't just deny it out of hand as much as I wanted to - Tarantulus attack had basically lead me down the path to the kind of hero I was now. And the way he spoke and with such confidence made me concerned that he might have reach in other places too.I started to open my mouth to speak-

"That's bullshit!"

Suddenly a dark shape – no, not a shape, it's Dark Shadow! Dark Shadow swiped at the Meanufacturer who dodged back with the claws passing inches from his own suit.

"You said that you're the reason why Edward has the powers he did. And maybe the experiment you did caused him to get his arms and legs. But you never gave him that spirit and determination to keep going. You didn't give him the cybernetics. You didn't make him a hero!" Dark Shadow declared.

Tokoyami walked closer towards us. "Dark Shadow is right. You claim that you used the information you got to try and craft a real-life monster because that would make a hero. You focus on that so highly you never even thought of the ways Ferros-san drove himself. You didn't give him his Quirk. You didn't inspire his ways he uses it." He added.

"Edward's no less of a hero than I am more of a monster." Dark Shadow added.

Meanufacturer laughed at that and shrugged his shoulders. "Oh really? He doesn't seem to think the same. And besides, you two should be happy. I'm striving for a society where those who might be judged unfairly like you aren't." Mastermind noted. "Where heroes are judged for actions, not appearances."

"Except it's wrong." I grunted out as I forced myself out of my own thoughts."That should be a move that Heroes shape society through their actions, not because they were designed to change society!" I found myself having yelled at that point… but I couldn't help but smile. ""Because they're right. You said it yourself after all, Tarantulus doing what he did was a mistake!"

Tokoyami grunted in affirmation, while Dark Shadow nodded. And Meanufacturer just started to chuckle slowly. A chuckle that started to get louder before erupting into loud, discordant laughter, his head bent back as if declaring his amusement to the sky

"Such magnificent speeches" Meanufacturer called out, having spread one arm wide and pointing the other at me. "But who do you think you are to declare them? You're only heroes in training! _Children!_ Where's your proof of my failure when my success, MY hero is right there!"

"All I see here is a mad scientist that is trying to rationalize his failure" My voice ran colder than I assumed the rain in this zone was. "It's time we showed you what really makes a hero."

Dark Shadow and I both charged in at once as I began to spin my right hand. A flurry of rapid punches lashed out from Dark Shadow at Meanufacturer, only for him to start striking back with the same speedy punches, matching and even occasionally surpassing Dark Shadow's. But that still leaves him open! I stop running and slide forward, the motion pushing me closer on the wet floor. " **Broken Magnum!** " I declared, punching out only about a foot away from the robotic body and hitting it with enough of an impact to send him and the hand flying into one of the building walls, the sound of an electric discharge !

I panted a bit, my breath giving a slight fog to the inside of the lenses - I'd basically punched as hard as I could with that - but before I could ask if that was it, two metal cords fired out. Both missed me, but one hit Dark Shadow as electricity surged through him.

"Grrraagggh!" Dark Shadow cried out, his hazy body spasming briefly.

The other hit Tokoyami who let out a brief cry of shock before it started to pull him forward. I grabbed at the cord-GRGHRGH!

Fuck! That… urgh. Of course, it's still got a live current and I have metal arms. And thanks to that I had just blacked out for a few seconds. By now Meanufacturer had pulled the second cord from Dark Shadow and was using it to scale the building with Tokoyami entangled in the first one. Dark Shadow was attempting to attack but every time he got close he flinched back as Tokoyami would be moved in the way.

I looked around for my other hand… only to see the pieces of it on the street. Fine, if that's the case… I grab at my bet and reached for the grappling arm attachment. In essence it's a grappling hook attached to a stable launcher that's designed to be a hand slot.

"Dark Shadow." I grunted out as I attached the grappling arm. "Keep an eye out. Things aren't done yet!"

Dark Shadow nodded and started to move about as Meanufacturer pulled Tokoyami onto the roof. And with that I looked up at the roof myself and focused. The grappling arm by itself couldn't be fired normally… but my Quirk allows me to change that. I punched out with the equipped arm and the grappling hook flies out, attaching onto the roof. It immediately started to pull and sent me racing up after them!

As I leaped up onto the roof and detached the hook from it in the process, Meanufacturer laughed – he had managed to get up closer to the opposite side of the roof while I had done all that! "While this is fun, it's time I did like any good scientist and ran some tests!" Meanufacturer declared, leaving Tokoyami wrapped in the ready-to-be-electrified cord next to him. "If you get any closer to me, your friend here gets zapped. If you fire off that grappling hand or your other hand, I'll dodge it and break it like I did your last one! And if you just wait, I'll do whatever I want to your friend… I might even throw him off, and you'd never make it in time! Do you risk your friend or yourself?" He announced dramatically.

I blinked behind my helmet and slowly looked at Tokoyami. I looked into the classmate who I barely knew anything about. His life is in my hands. I go to speak… and then Tokoyami simply nodded. The helmet hides the smile forming on my face. Slowly I focused with a slow sigh, as I kneeled and pushed my hand against the roof.

"You're surrendering?" Meanufacturer asked slowly. "No… an experiment of mine wouldn't do that. You're coming up with a third option."

I grinned a little more behind my helmet at that. " **Butterfly Net…** "

Only for Dark Shadow to emerge behind Meanufacturer and slashed down with one of his claws to cut the cord into pieces before punching Meanufacturer away " **Shadow's Surprise!** " He finished with a thumbs up flashed towards me.

Meanufacturer stumbled to a stop… but laughed. "Excellent, EXCELLENT! Even without saying a word you made a plan to get out of an impossible situation! I expect nothing less from my hero!" He bellowed. "But that's not enough to stop me!" Suddenly he MOVED towards me, becoming like a blur as I forced myself forward to try and take him off guard. As Meanufactuer lashed out with a low sweeping kick at me, I leaped into the air, only for Dark Shadow to rise up and grab me before swinging me down feet first into the robotic villain, the rooftop beneath him breaking as we fell through

This didn't even slow Meanufacturer down as he lashed out with an electrified palm strike that I didn't even try to block. While my suit was electrically insulated, it still stung because of how vulnerable my metallic limbs are. "Can your teamwork stop me before I fry those limbs?" Meanufacturer cackled even as I slammed my fist into his chest, sending him flying back a bit before he flung the remaining cord out to attach to the ceiling and steady his landing. Dark Shadow flew into the room and seemed to swell slightly as wider blows lashed out at Meanufacturer. The villain's response to this was to jump out the window. I quickly grappled onto the window frame nearest me and followed him out as I watched him start to swing at Dark Shadow on his way down.

"Yes! Even inspiring your classmates to greater heights!" Meanufacturer declared as he rapidly let himself fall to the ground, the full robotic body enduring the impact better than I could. "Teamwork, inspiration, even pushing this robotic body of mine to its limits! How can you deny my methods with results like this?"

The grapple started to slow a fall towards the ground before the grappling hook detached one story before I would land, allowing me to recall it back to the holster."Because I know for a fact that I never needed to inspire Tokoyami to be a great hero. He's already becoming one without needing to be tied to a monster you made!" I called out.

"And Fe... And Edward-san didn't need someone to provide disaster in his life to become a great hero." Tokoyami added as Dark Shadow used the cord he'd been wrapped in to lower him down. "His spirit was always there. All you did was make him suffer, no better than any other villain!"

Meanufacturer twitched slightly at that, his head lowered slightly. Slowly, he glared up at us, showing both lenses glowing a sinister red, even though one was clearly cracked. He started to chuckle again… before throwing his whole body back as he cackled like a madman. "This is what I get for exposing my methods to those who can't accept the truth! It seems I'll just have to try with some other subject. But first, I should deal with my this one!" He roared out, his entire body sparking with electricity as he charged at me.

I looked at him… and started to focus. "You think I should accept your methods. That I should be your subject that bends to every test. To every challenge you throw at me to make the ideal hero!" I yelled out as I crouched down."I don't want to be the ideal hero. I don't want to be your hero. I am _me!_ I will be my _own_ hero! **Level 3!** "

I leapt into the air and towards Meanufacturer. My shoulders bent back slightly as I did, as if aiming them at him. For a brief moment I could almost see the shock from Meanufacturer as he tried to stop but skidded in the wet floor. The surprise from Tokoyami even as Dark Shadow charged towards Meanufacturer. And then a pair of loud pops sounded as the air cannons I'd installed into my shoulders fired, flinging me forwards even faster and more intense than before. I stretched out one of my legs and called out the one thing that made sense at that moment.

" **RIDER KICK!** "

I had always known that I'd have a tough time fighting someone with electrical powers. And while it had the metallic ring, my boost were insulated for this exact reason! My boot SLAMMED into the robot with a loud metallic burst of sound as the wet road and inertia forced us forward before I slammed my other leg into the robot, launching me back. I flipped back and landed - barely - as the extra force sent the robot tumbling onto its back.

I slowly approached on shaky legs as Tokoyami finished lowering himself down to the ground. The robot's chest was clearly broken with sparking machinery exposed to the rain… but the robot lifted its head to look at me.

"A hero's kick to end the fight." Meanufacturer remarked with a tone that… sounded like a mix of smug amusement and pride. "And insulation to stop your weakness. It doesn't matter what you say Edward. You are proof that my method works."

For a moment I consider not answering him. I sighed slowly and shook my head. "And it doesn't matter to me what you think. I'll be my own hero" I remarked.

Meanufacturer chuckled dryly. "That's just what I want you to say."

At that, the whole area started to rumble from some sort of immense impact – the Nomu being dealt with I think – and as Tokoyami looked around in confusion, I noticed the head of the robot collapse back to the ground. I moved a little closer and noticed there was no more sparking, no more activity. The fight was over.


	11. It Never Ends

So. After a bit of a discussion with my more critical - and at the same time honest - fans and betas I've come to a conclusion.

Unfortunately Of Metal and Masks, with its current form and title, does not really have much more beyond this point it can do. I've been inconsistant with Edward's character when he's had any (in part due to me having no idea how to write someone with PTSD like him), Meanufacturer's idea is fine but the personality comes off as a weaker sentai villain in the end and I pulled the trigger for his appearence WAY too soon, and honestly I haven't got much else to add to Edward Quirk or training wise.

However, as the title points out, this does not mean the end.

See, Of Metal and Masks went through multiple incarnations before coming to this version of the story. And frankly... the story of Of Metal and Masks is actually inferior because I passed up a different concept and Quirk that I had more thought out and developed. I can't promise that this new fic will be out all that fast. I want to take my time planning things out. But when I do finish the first chapter, I will add to here and let all you fine readers know where you can find the new adventures of my SI character - who is not yet named. For those of you who come to that, you'll even see the origins of things like the theme for Kasumi Ferros.

So until that time, sayonara.


	12. A Nebulous State of Affairs

So, I promised you all to let you know when this happened. The planned remake of OMaM fell through as I felt the idea wasn't strong enough... so I broke it down and rebuilt a different kind of story... while still a MHA SI.

Be ready... for a Nebulous State of Affairs.


End file.
